Editing Pancreatitis (section)

=== Pain management ===
Acute pancreatitis typically presents with severe to extreme abdominal pain.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{cite journal | vauthors = Szatmary P, Grammatikopoulos T, Cai W, Huang W, Mukherjee R, Halloran C, Beyer G, Sutton R | title = Acute Pancreatitis: Diagnosis and Treatment | journal = Drugs | volume = 82 | issue = 12 | pages = 1251–1276 | date = August 2022 | pmid = 36074322 | pmc = 9454414 | doi = 10.1007/s40265-022-01766-4 }}</ref> While the mildest cases of pancreatitis may be managed exclusively with [[NSAIDs]] (which are preferred in such scenarios due to the anti-inflammatory effects and the better safety profile), most patients with pancreatitis require heavy [[opioid]] regimens for pain therapy. Severe cases often require continuous IV infusions of opioid medications. It is appropriate for emergent cases of pancreatitis to be treated with these medications immediately, rather than attempting to control the pain with lesser medications first.<ref name=":3" />

The early use of strong pain management therapies does not affect the ability for the physician to diagnose the cause of severe abdominal pain. Thus, pain management should not be reduced or withheld for the purposes of diagnosis in cases of suspected pancreatitis.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Manterola C, Vial M, Moraga J, Astudillo P | title = Analgesia in patients with acute abdominal pain | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | issue = 1 | pages = CD005660 | date = January 2011 | pmid = 21249672 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD005660.pub3 | collaboration = Cochrane Colorectal Cancer Group }}</ref>