pancre-, pancreo-, pancreat-, pancreato-, pancreatic-, pancreatico-

Relating to, or affected by pancreatitis or inflammation of the veins in the pancreas.

A reference to something that is caused by the absence of the pancreas: As a result of a critical operation to remove the diseased pancreas, Polly was medically in an apancreatic condition and required daily insulin and careful medical monitoring.

Radiographic examination of the bile ducts and pancreas: Cholangiopancreatography is a technique that combines the use of endoscopy and fluoroscopy to diagnose and treat certain problems of the biliary or pancreatic ductal systems.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP, is a procedure to diagnose and treat problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas.

Cholangiopancreatography combines X-ray and the use of an endoscope or a long, flexible, lighted tube to get the medical results.

Excision of the head of the pancreas along with the encircling loop of the duodenum.

Reduced delivery of pancreatic digestive enzyme secretions.

A reference to the spleen and the pancreas.

1. A long, irregularly shaped gland in vertebrates, lying behind the stomach, that secretes pancreatic juice into the duodenum and insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin into the bloodstream.
2. A gland, situated near the stomach, that secretes a digestive fluid into the intestine through one or more ducts and also secretes the hormone insulin.
3. Etymology: literally, "entirely flesh"; a soft, fleshy, mallet-shaped organ that forms two different glandular elements situated behind the stomach.

More Details about the Pancreas

The pancreas is a fish-shaped spongy grayish-pink organ about six inches (15 cm) long that stretches across the back of the abdomen, behind the stomach.

The head of the pancreas is on the right side of the abdomen and is connected to the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine). The narrow end of the pancreas, called the tail, extends to the left side of the body.

The pancreas makes juices and hormones, including insulin. The pancreatic juices are enzymes that help digest food in the small intestine. Insulin controls the amount of sugar in the blood.

As pancreatic juices are made, they flow into the main pancreatic duct. This duct joins the common bile duct, which connects the pancreas to the liver and the gallbladder. The common bile duct, which carries bile (a fluid that helps digest fat), connects to the small intestine near the stomach.

The pancreas is considered to be a compound gland. It is "compound" in the sense that it is composed of both exocrine and endocrine tissues.

The exocrine function of the pancreas involves the synthesis and secretion of pancreatic juices.

The endocrine function resides in the million or so cellular islands (the islets of Langerhans) embedded between the exocrine units of the pancreas. Beta cells of the islands secrete insulin, which helps control carbohydrate metabolism. Alpha cells of the islets secrete glucagon that counters the action of insulin.

The islets of Langerhans were named for Paul Langerhans, a German anatomist, 1847–1888. Langerhans discovered these cells during his studies for his doctorate at the Berlin Pathological Institute in 1869.

The surgical removal of a pancreatic concretion or the excision of a calculus from the pancreas.

Stones in the pancreas, usually found in the pancreatic duct system.

Any disease of the gland close to the stomach: Pancreatitis is one type of pancreatopathy that should be taken very seriously.