Antioxidants and Pain Control in Patients with Chronic Pancreatitis: A Never-Ending Story

Authors: RAFFAELE PEZZILLI, LORENZO FANTINI

Abstract: Chronic pancreatitis is a benign disease often characterized by recurrent episodes of abdominal pain accompanied by progressive pancreatic exocrine and endocrine insufficiency; it sometimes requires multiple hospitalizations. This disease is frequently the result of chronic alcohol abuse, even if other factors such as genetic alterations, autoimmune disorders, and obstructive disease of the biliary tract and the pancreas may cause the disease. The pain can be considered the most important symptom; it significantly modifies the quality of life of patients with chronic pancreatitis and its control represents a challenge in the treatment of the disease. Among the several modalities for controlling the painful symptomatology, in addition to the use of high doses of analgesics, adding antioxidant substances to the patient’s diet has been attempted. In this paper we review the most recent literature data about the use of antioxidants in alleviating the pancreatic pain.

Keywords: Antioxidants, pancreatitis, chronic, pain, analgesia

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