Active clinical trials for "Pancreatitis, Chronic"

To prospectively document the performance of a FCSEMS for treatment of pancreatic duct strictures in patients with painful chronic pancreatitis.

An open label pilot study will determine the effect of the amino acid nutritional supplement acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) on pain, quality of life, well-being, and serum pro-inflammatory mediator and oxidative stress levels in volunteers with chronic pancreatitis. The ALC is given to all participants for 3 months, and assessments will occur at intake and after 3 months.

The purpose of this research study is to learn about the activity of oral Pancrecarb® (a pancreatic enzyme preparation which contains proteins that help to digest food), administered by mouth as a capsule filled with specially coated granules in patients taking exogenous pancreatic enzyme therapy. Specific enzymes activities will be determined from samples of stomach and intestinal fluids after a standard liquid meal.

The purpose of this study is to determine if celiac bloc (with injection of steroid and local anesthetic) is superior to a sham procedure for pain control and quality of life improvement in patient with chronic pancreatitis and abdominal pain.

The goal of this research study is to learn more about the pancreas. The investigators want to use Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) to learn more about the size of a normal pancreas. MRCP is a special kind of MRI exam that produces detailed images of the pancreas. The investigators also want to figure out how much fluid the pancreas releases in response to secretin. Secretin is a chemical in the body that causes the pancreas to release fluid that helps with digestion. Secretin is used during the MRCP (MR-PFT) to help identify dysfunction of the pancreas. MR elastography (MRE) will be used to measure how hard the pancreas is. MRE is a special kind of MRI that uses vibrations to image tissue.

This study is testing whether the addition of a noninvasive form of brain stimulation called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) when combined with meditation helps decrease the abdominal pain in patients with chronic pancreatitis. The device involved in this study, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is investigational. This means that the study device is still being tested in research studies and is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration [FDA].

The study purpose is to characterize the effect of pancreatic enzyme supplementation on chronic pancreatitis type pain.

The major clinical features of chronic pancreatitis include glandular (exocrine and endocrine) failure and pain. Pain has remained a major clinical challenge and is present in up to 90% of patients and is the primary cause of hospitalization in most patients. Unfortunately, pain in chronic pancreatitis has been very difficult to treat. The investigators hypothesize that the best method to reliably abolish peripheral nerve signaling is the use of a local anesthetic within the target organ (i.e. pancreas). This can best be done during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Since ERCP is done under deep sedation or general anesthesia, it is critical to select a local anesthetic whose effect persists well after recovery from the procedure; if not, the assessment of the effect of the local anesthetic on pain will be impossible to assess. The investigators have therefore chosen liposomal bupivacaine (Exparel, Pacira Pharmaceuticals), which is an FDA approved product for local infiltration that has a longer duration of action (up to 72 hours) and a slower absorption into the systemic circulation, avoiding high plasma concentrations.

13C breath di-peptide tests are an effective non-invasive tool to detect pancreatic exocrine function in patients with Chronic Pancreatitis.

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is a condition where the pancreas does not have enough pancreatic enzymes to break down food. Some symptoms of EPI are frequent gas/bloating, unexplained stomach pains, frequent diarrhea, and foul-smelling, greasy stools. The purpose of this study is to see how effective CREON is for treating symptoms of EPI due to causes other than cystic fibrosis (CF), chronic pancreatitis (CP), pancreatectomy (PY), or pancreatic cancer (PC). CREON (Pancrelipase) is an approved drug used to treat people who cannot digest food normally due to their pancreas not making enough enzymes. Adult participants with a diagnosis of EPI due to causes other than CF, CP, PY, or PC will be enrolled. Around 50 participants will be enrolled in approximately 20 sites in the United States. Participants will receive oral CREON capsules with each meal and snack beginning at Day 1 for 27 weeks. There may be higher treatment burden for participants in this trial compared to their standard of care. Participants will attend regular visits during the course of the study at a hospital or a clinic. Participants will need to be confined for 2 separate periods of 6 to 8 days each to measure Co-efficient of Fat Absorption (during screening and after enrollment). The effect of the treatment will be checked by medical assessments, blood and stool tests, checking for side effects and completing questionnaires.