July 1, 2022 – Travis Barker, drummer for rock band blink-182, was hospitalized this week in Los Angeles with pancreatitis.
Barker, 46, husband of superstar influencer Kourtney Kardashian, lately had a colonoscopy to test for colon most cancers. Specialists have weighed in on how doubtless the hyperlink is between his colonoscopy and pancreatitis.
“It is potential, but it surely’s uncommon,” says Timothy B. Gardner, MD, director of pancreatic problems at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Heart in Lebanon, NH.
“It is exceedingly uncommon,” agrees Vladimir M Kushnir, MD. “Colonoscopy is an especially protected and lifesaving process.”
Critical problems from a colonoscopy occur effectively lower than 1 in 1,000 occasions, he says.
Solely 5 instances of pancreatitis after a colonoscopy have been reported in medical literature, Kushnir says, normally after very onerous procedures. “This isn’t one thing I’d ever fear about if I have been having a colonoscopy or a member of the family was having a colonoscopy,” says Kushnir, director of bariatric endoscopy at Washington College Faculty of Drugs in St. Louis.
“I’ve achieved 1000’s and 1000’s of colonoscopies, and I’ve by no means had a affected person develop pancreatitis,” Gardner says.
One factor stays unclear: how a lot time there was between Barker’s colonoscopy and his pancreatitis. Sometimes, the pancreas must turn into infected inside 24 to 48 hours to be associated, Gardner says.
Extra Frequent Causes
The pancreas is a giant digestive gland that sits behind the abdomen. It might get infected for a wide range of causes, however it’s most frequently associated to gallstone illness or extreme alcohol use.
When the pancreas will get infected, it could trigger stomach ache and nausea. “Most often, it will get higher in a number of days,” Kushnir says. “However in some uncommon instances, sufferers can get right into a severe inflammatory situation and it may be fairly extreme. Pancreatitis is definitely one of the crucial widespread gastrointestinal situations to require hospitalization.”
Gardner agrees that most individuals with pancreatitis recuperate inside a number of days. He additionally notes that some medicines and pancreatic most cancers also can trigger pancreatitis.
Anatomy Lesson
One a part of the colon is known as the splenic flexure, which is on the left higher a part of the stomach that sits proper subsequent to the tail of the pancreas. “So they’re proper subsequent to one another,” Gardner says.
“So conceivably, if we’re doing a colonoscopy, the strain might trigger mechanical contact with that a part of the pancreas,” he says. However once more, it is very uncommon.
In line with a report in Folks, Barker entered Cedars-Sinai Hospital on Tuesday with cramps, excessive abdomen ache, and problem strolling.
