[Therapy of acute pancreatitis]

The unpredictable course of acute pancreatitis needs a careful surveyance of the patient in the first days of the acute attack in order to apply therapeutic measures adequate to the severity of the symptoms. The avoidance of food or drink and gastric suction appears to be sufficient to prevent endogenous stimulation of the gland while there is probably no benefit of anticholinergic drugs or carboanhydrase inhibitors. Early adequate substitution of fluids using watery solutions, plasmaexpanders or blood is of decisive importance. For treatment of pains spasmoanalgetics, synthetic opium derivatives or infusion of procain are recommended. Tetracyclines should be given to prevent secondary infections. Trasylol is indicated only, if the benefit of the drug just now proven in one therapeutical trial will be confirmed in another study. The effectiveness of glucagon or calcitonin has not yet been proven. The medical treatment "by all means" is being replaced by elective surgical measures. After recovery etiological factors have to be determined by a number of routine investigations in order to prevent recurrency of the disease.