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Ursodeoxycholic acid's role in avoiding diversionary surgery in idiopathic fibrosing pancreatitis
Author(s) -
Rosenbaum Jeremy,
Alex George,
Clarnette Tom
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2009.01595.x
Subject(s) - medicine , ursodeoxycholic acid , etiology , pancreatitis , differential diagnosis , disease , surgery , limiting , intensive care medicine , gastroenterology , pathology , mechanical engineering , engineering
Obstructive jaundice in childhood is rare but a cause of great concern and warrants aggressive investigation into its aetiology. Idiopathic fibrosing pancreatitis (IFP) is a rare cause of this phenomenon and is presently a diagnosis of exclusion with lymphoma a main differential diagnosis. IFP appears to be a self limiting occurrence and as a result the previous gold standard of therapy of surgical diversion may ultimately be unnecessary. We describe ursodeoxycholic acid as a useful adjunct to treatment allowing more time for clinicians to evaluate the nature of the underlying disease process without hastily moving towards invasive surgery until clearly indicated.