Diagnosis of abdominal pain. How to distinguish between pancreatic and extrapancreatic causes.

Published reports have been reviewed and the results compared in an attempt to differentiate between pancreatic pain and abdominal pain from other causes, and between the pain of acute pancreatitis and that of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic carcinoma. The role of pain as a diagnostic sign has been assessed, as have the patterns of pain in chronic pancreatitis.