What makes patients with pancreatitis and pneumonia sick?

Question

Hello doctor,

My uncle is sick. He had a liver transplant ten years ago. About a month ago, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and pancreatitis. The doctors said that the pancreatitis caused multi-organ failure. The doctor put him on broad-spectrum antibiotics. A few days later, his right lung collapsed, and they had to insert a chest tube, place him on a ventilator and administer dialysis. Two days later, his left lung also collapsed, and they inserted another chest tube. Maybe a week later, it seemed like he was getting better. They took him from the ventilator and some of the medications that he was using. Then, around midnight, he started having trouble breathing, so they had to put him back on the ventilator. Today, he is still on the ventilator, and the doctors are saying that there is nothing else they can do, but they do not know what is causing him to be so sick. All test results are negative for infection. I would be fine with their medical opinion if they identified what was causing him to be so sick.

Kindly help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I read your query and can understand your concern.

Basically, because of pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), your uncle developed multi-organ dysfunction. Here, lungs and kidneys are affected and not functioning well (attachment removed to protect patient's identity). Hence, support is given to their function; the respiratory system function is managed by ventilators, and the kidney function by dialysis. In pancreatitis, many inflammatory mediators are released, and they can damage the vasculature and epithelium of organs. Sometimes damage might be irreversible. Many mechanisms interact with each other when acute inflammation is present, and symptomatic management should be done here. Regular checking of arterial blood gas analysis, kidney profile, liver profile, clotting abnormality, etc., could be helpful. Both lungs collapsed, hence the prognosis seems poor here. You can discuss more regarding this with your critical care specialist.

I hope this helps.

Thank you and take care.