Internal Medicine

Back pain in pancreatic cancer

introduction

Pancreatic cancer is a serious and life threatening condition, the symptoms of which are not always easy to spot and interpret.
On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the complaint that is typical for this disease is poor End-stage pancreatic cancer occur, on the other hand, that the early symptoms are very unspecific and can also occur in numerous harmless diseases.

One of these non-specific symptoms are Back pain. Not all patients at one Pancreatic cancer illness describe a previous backache.

These are often complaints that have been present for a long time, and after there has been no improvement, the patient ultimately allows them to see a doctor.
However, back pain, even if it has been around for some time, is not necessarily associated with pancreatic cancer.
Tension, Herniated discs of the thoracic spine, degenerative vertebral body diseases and many other diseases that are much more common than pancreatic cancer are first shortlisted.
It can happen that the doctor first offers anti-inflammatory pain treatment, e.g. With Diclofenac (Voltaren®) is started and it is checked whether the patient's symptoms are reduced.
Also will the Spine and the Kidneys mostly examined to see if this is the source of pain.

If there are no other pancreatic-specific complaints, such as a yellowing of the skin (Jaundice), when the stool becomes lighter or the urine becomes darker, in the vast majority of cases the back pain is not associated with a malignant disease.

Reasons for the difficult assessment of back pain

Pancreatic cancer can cause pain that pulls into the back.

Back pain are among the most common reasons why a family doctor is consulted. In the vast majority of cases, the cause of the back pain is more or less severe complaints of the Back muscles or the Spine.

When describing the symptoms, the family doctor will arrange a series of examinations in order to be able to make an appropriate diagnosis of why the back pain is occurring. Since medicine is always directed towards more frequent diagnoses, a Pancreatic cancer often in the background as a possible cause.
It usually takes a few days for a patient to see their general practitioner, especially since the back pain associated with pancreatic cancer is initially not as excruciating as that acute medical attention is sought.
If the family doctor initiates the standard diagnosis for back pain, a few more days usually pass.
During this time, it should also be checked whether any prescribed painkillers are having an effect. If they do not do this, a referral is often made to the orthopedic surgeon, whose appointments are usually not in the near future.
Until the patient comes back from the orthopedic surgeon, so much time has usually passed that the other symptoms of one Pancreatic cancer Have gained the upper hand.
In the rarest of cases, the indicated back pain will immediately lead to pancreatic cancer.

The reasons why pancreatic cancer is not immediately ruled out are, on the one hand, an economic justification, but also a patient-friendly cause.
The only diagnostic measure to see pancreatic cancer or to get further clues for it is to do one CTs of the abdomen.
Since this would not only put an extreme strain on every patient in terms of radiation protection, but would also tear a huge financial hole in the doctor's budget, this examination method is not the first choice.

The frequency must also be seen in the incidence rate, and there is the number of new cases (10 new cases per 100,000 people), who develop pancreatic cancer each year in Germany relatively high, but not as high as the incidence of new back pain.

Causes of back pain in pancreatic cancer

The pancreas is located under the Sternum and loops from the middle of the abdomen to the left.
It is below the Stomach with the so-called head and pulls to the left with a narrowing tail part.
Contrary to the assumption that the pancreas is pulling straight to the side, it must be noted that the tail part lies back and pulls into the so-called retroperitoneum, i.e. the rear section of the abdomen.
In this area there are a multitude of annoy and Vesselsthat criss-cross this area and, among other things, place on the back wall as well as the muscles of the Spine supply.
If the pancreas it can also lead to irritation of these nerves, which then cause a pain impulse brain give.
Since the affected nerves supply parts of the back, the brain feels that it is Back pain acts. In reality, however, the nerves that pull to the back and are irritated by the pancreas are affected.