Chronic alcoholism and evolution of pain and prognosis in chronic pancreatitis.

To evaluate the influence of chronic alcoholism on clinical features of chronic pancreatitis in Japan, pain evolution, pancreatic insufficiency, and long-term prognosis were studied by comparing chronic alcoholic pancreatitis (N = 88) with idiopathic pancreatitis (N = 67). The 155 patients with known course of the disease over three years were followed-up further for five more years, and pain evolution was evaluated once at the start and once at the end of the follow-up period. At the time of diagnosis, severe pain (59 vs 33%, P less than 0.001), pancreatic calcification (63 vs 31%, P less than 0.001), advanced exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (72 vs 60%, NS), and overt diabetes (48 vs 17%, P less than 0.001) were more common in alcoholic than in idiopathic pancreatitis, respectively. Pain evolution was similar in both pancreatitis, and the pain decreased with time. The rate of abstinence was higher in groups with pain relief than without in alcoholic pancreatitis. Cumulative mortality rate during the five years was higher in alcoholic than idiopathic pancreatitis (26 vs 10%, P less than 0.01). These results suggest more favorable evolution of the disease can be expected by abstinence from alcohol.