[Chronic abdominal pain in a young diabetic patient]

We report on a 33-year-old patient from Sri Lanka who had been suffering from recurrent episodes of abdominal cramps since he was ten years old. He additionally suffered from postprandial flatulence and an increased frequency of bowel movements. By the age of 24, his condition had worsened with polyuria and polydipsia and he was diagnosed with type II diabetes mellitus. Recently, the patient's compliance deteriorated steadily and his diabetes mellitus was uncontrolled. His flatulence continued and he had six to seven bowel movements daily. He presented to us with renewed bouts of severe stomach cramps, similar to the painful episodes that the patient experienced in his youth. After exclusion of other etiologies and judging by the clinical picture, the patient's origin and the sonographically and radiologically verified pancreatic calcification, we rendered the diagnosis of a tropic calcifying pancreatitis with secondary diabetes mellitus. According to the literature, malignant neoplasia may develop on the basis of this disease. However, we were able to rule out a carcinoma as the cause of the current pain episodes in this patient based on clinical findings and course. We attributed the stomach cramps to compression of the common bile duct by the fibrotic head of pancreas. Pain and cholestasis regressed, thus obviating the need for surgical intervention (pancreaticojejunostomy). On therapy with enzyme substitution and insulin, the patient's exo- and endocrine pancreatic insufficiency was asymptomatic.