Chronic Pancreatitis in Niigata Prefecture

Two hundred and twenty-nine patients with chronic pancreatitis treated in 31 hospitals in Niigata prefecture during the period from 1978 to 1984 were reviewed. All of the patients fulfilled the criteria proposed by The Japanese Society of Gastroenterology in 1983. Etiology of the disease was alcoholic abuse in 152 patients （66%）, biliary disease in 16 （7%）, idiopathic in 53 （23%）, and miscellaneous in 8（4%）. Eighty six patients underwent 109 operations in an attempt to relieve their pain. Operative procedures employed included pancreatic resection （26 times）, pancreato-jejunostomy （28 times）, transduodenal sphincteroplasty （8 times）, other biliary surgery （25 times）and others （21 times）. There was only one operative death. Exellent or good pain relief was obtained in 84.1% of alcoholic and 68.8% of idiopathic group after surgery. On the other hand, pain decreased significantly in the course of conservative treatment in 58% of the non-operated patients. To evaluate the effectiveness of surgical treatment for chronic pancreatitis, further investigations anl indicated