What is the relationship between biliary tract disease and pancreatic disease

In clinical practice, we often encounter cases where pancreatic diseases are triggered by ocular tract diseases or biliary tract diseases are caused by pancreatic diseases. For example, common bile duct stones tend to cause acute pancreatitis, while tumors in the head of the pancreas often cause bile duct obstruction. The first reason for this is the condition of the pancreas itself, which is an important organ with both endocrine and exocrine functions, and is located in the deep part of the upper abdomen, equivalent to the level of the first and second lumbar vertebrae. The adult pancreas weighs 85 to 95 grams, and the pancreas is 12 to 20 centimeters long and 3 to 4 centimeters wide. It is divided into three parts: the head, body and tail of the pancreas. The pancreas has many complex functions. The islet cells in the pancreas contain A cells that secrete glucagon, B cells that secrete insulin, and D cells that secrete growth inhibitors, which play an extremely important role in regulating the body’s metabolism. The pancreas is also an important digestive gland, secreting pancreatic juice, about 1 liter per day, which contains a large amount of digestive enzymes such as pancreatic protease, amylase and lipase, etc. Stimulated by eating food, it is fed into the duodenum by the pancreatic duct and participates in the process of food digestion. Next, the close relationship between the bile duct and the pancreas in terms of anatomical location should be understood. In the process of the common bile duct going down into the duodenum, part of the common bile duct walks behind the head of the pancreas, and before the opening of the common bile duct in the duodenum, it mostly converges with the pancreatic duct, forming a lack of special pot belly also known as the biliopancreatic pot belly, and then opening dry duodenum. Because the biliary tract is so closely related to the pancreas, there is a close relationship between biliary tract and pancreatic diseases. When the common opening of the biliopancreatic duct in the duodenum is blocked by gallstones, the pressure in the common duct rises and bile refluxes into the pancreatic duct, causing acute pancreatitis; tumors or inflammation in the head of the pancreas often compress the common bile duct and cause obstruction of the common bile duct. Therefore, those who suffer from cholecystitis and gallstone should actively prevent and treat pancreatic related disorders.