Hospitalization, frequency of interventions, and quality of life after endoscopic, surgical, or conservative treatment in patients with chronic pancreatitis.

Objective Patients with chronic pancreatitis usually have a long and debilitating history of disease with frequent hospital admissions, episodes of intractable pain and multiple interventions. The sequences of treatment at initial presentation, endoscopy, surgery, or conservative treatment may affect the time course and admissions needed for disease control, thereby determining quality of life and overall outcome.