Background: Chronic pancreatitis is a long-standing, inflammatory condition of the pancreas that leads to the progressive damage and loss of function of pancreatic parenchyma and to the development of possible locoregional and systemic medical complications.
Materials and methods: In this review, we tried to summarize the current evidence on non-surgical treatment trying to suggest a practical approach to the management of chronic pancreatitis.
Results: Besides the unclear pathophysiological mechanism and a poorly unknown epidemiology, chronic pancreatitis is a complex syndrome that displays different possible challenges for physicians. Despite being traditionally considered as a benign disease, chronic pancreatitis encompasses 10-year mortality rates which are superior to the ones reported for some of the most common cancers.
Conclusions: Chronic pancreatitis encompasses the management of multiple and complex medical co-morbidities that needs to be understood and addressed in a multidisciplinary specialist context.
Keywords: Chronic pancreatitis; conservative management; diabetes mellitus; endoscopic management; non-surgical treatment; pain management; pancreatic exocrine insufficiency.