ABSTRACT
Digestion and absorption of food and nutrients is a complex and meticulously coordinated process, which involves secretory, absorptive, and motor gastrointestinal functions as well as the circulatory system. Pancreatic exocrine secretions facilitate the digestion of macronutrients-proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates-from dietary intake. Therefore, any interruption to its normal functioning can result in nutritional disturbances. During the normal digestive process, inactivated pancreatic enzymes travel through the pancreatic ducts and empty into the duodenum where the enzymes become activated and aid in the hydrolysis of macronutrients. However, pancreatitis can cause premature enzymatic activation within the pancreatic ductal system and the resulting inŽammation can result in disruptions of exocrine function (Norman 1999). In pancreatitis, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids are insuf˜ciently hydrolyzed into absorbable micronutrients. As a result of the increased physiological demand of this stressed state, the body quickly depletes its own stores of energy and then begins to metabolize adipose and skeletal tissues to meet metabolic demands. As such, providing adequate nutrition during episodes of pancreatitis is bene˜cial to patient recovery. This chapter will discuss the different nutritional requirements in acute and chronic pancreatitis (CP) as well as optimal timing, route, and formulation of nutrition.
