William Levy
Research Mentor: Merrick Bay
Mentor Department: Department of Internal Medicine Division of Gastroenterology, Other
Author(s): William Levy, Merrick Bay
Session: Session 4 (1:00 PM – 1:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 26
Abstract
Chronic Pancreatitis (CP) is a debilitating disease that affects roughly 200,000 people in the United States alone. Despite the comprehensive literature on the mechanism of this disease, there is a paucity of information regarding effective pain management strategies. While some patients may experience severe bouts of pain, others only experience moderate or minimal levels. This suggests that the root cause may be different on a case by case basis, and therefore can be treated differently. Our project seeks to underscore strategies employed by patients with overlapping symptoms, comorbidities, and lifestyle choices related to personal treatment of pain. Without truly knowing the cause of pain, it can be difficult to effectively treat the source of pain in those with this disease. Ultimately pain signals stem from three main causes: neuropathic, nociplastic, and nociceptive. By gathering data via comprehensive surveys sent over a 5 year period, we hope to illustrate the similarities between discrete patient populations suffering from CP and elucidate both pharmacological and alternative treatment options. This preliminary study analyzed the baseline data from a single-center, longitudinal cohort of adults with CP. We mainly focused on patients who completed both our Medication Pain Intervention Strategies and Other Pain Management Strategies surveys in Qualtrics. Based on these two surveys, participants’ perceived effectiveness of various treatments were analyzed. Identifying these pain treatments will help refine the prognostic understanding of the disease and help providers make more informed treatment decisions when treating pain caused by CP.
