Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI): Pancreatitis (2024)

FAQs

Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI): Pancreatitis? ›

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is a condition in which your small intestine can't digest food completely because of problems with digestive enzymes from your pancreas. EPI often develops slowly, over many years. The pancreas delivers the digestive juice to the small intestine through a single duct.

Pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis and other conditions that affect the pancreas cause exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI). People with EPI don't have enough pancreatic (digestive) enzymes to break down foods and absorb nutrients. It can lead to malnutrition. Pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) can help.

Although there is no cure for EPI, medical treatments and lifestyle changes can help a person to manage symptoms and improve quality of life.

Without treatment, EPI can make you malnourished -- you won't get enough important vitamins and nutrients from your diet -- and it can lead to other serious conditions, such as thinning bones (osteoporosis) or the blood condition anemia.

In general, highly processed foods are harder for your body to digest (with or without EPI); examples include microwaveable meals, meat products, and breakfast cereals. Consult with your doctor or nutritionist for individual dietary recommendations as part of your overall EPI management plan.

EPI often results from damage to the pancreas from diseases such as chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer or cystic fibrosis. Removal of some or all of the pancreas or surgery to other parts of the digestive tract (such as the intestines or stomach) may also cause it.

Steatorrhea is a type of bowel movement that is oily, floats, smells really bad, and is difficult to flush. People with EPI are not able to absorb all the fat that they eat, so undigested fat is excreted, resulting in stools that look oily or greasy.

If EPI is left untreated, malnutrition-related morbidity, poor quality of life, and potentially serious complications, including death, might occur.

Managing chronic stress is critical for people at risk for pancreatitis. Stressors – things that cause stress – can be physical, mental, or a combination of both. Stressors that can make EPI worse include: Forgetting to take your medication.

Does EPI make you tired? ›

If left untreated, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency can lead to feeling malnourished, fatigued and weak. This is due to the poor absorption of vitamins and nutrients. Eventually, it can lead to thinning bones (osteoporosis) or anemia (a deficiency of red blood cells).

Your doctor can help you determine a target weight. Few people with EPI are likely to gain too much weight, even after they find a combination of foods they can tolerate. Even after you reach a healthy weight, your doctor will continue to monitor you for any vitamin deficiencies.

The symptoms of EPI are very similar to Crohn's disease, celiac disease, IBD, ulcerative colitis and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), which can make it very hard to diagnose.

Staying hydrated with at least 8 glasses of fluid every day is also important to help prevent dehydration, which can impact people with EPI.

Drinking plenty of fluids is crucial to managing EPI. “Good hydration buffers the pancreas and helps it function more properly,” Dr. Glessing says. Drink plain water and limit sugary drinks, fruit juices, and caffeinated beverages, which can counteract the hydrating effects of water.

An omelet made with egg whites and chopped vegetables, served with a slice of whole-wheat toast, is another good breakfast choice when you're on a diet for EPI.

Apart from a healthy diet, the main treatment for EPI is pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT). You take prescription pills that replace the enzymes your pancreas isn't making. These enzymes break down your food so you can more easily digest and absorb it. You have to take them during your meals.

What is it used for? A stool elastase test is used check for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) when a person has belly pain and other digestive symptoms that don't have a known cause. This test is better at finding severe EPI than mild or moderate cases.

What's the connection between exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and diabetes? Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) occurs when the pancreas does not make enough of the enzymes that the body uses to digest food. People with diabetes have an increased risk of developing EPI, but the condition is treatable.