Abstract

Introduction Chronic pancreatitis is a progressive, inflammatory, malabsorptive disease of the pancreas which has significant health and socioeconomic consequences for patients. As a chronic disease, the general practitioner along with gastroenterologists and general surgeons play an integral role in the overall management of the condition, both in primary and hospital based care. The aim of this study was to conduct nationwide surveys of general practitioners and gastroenterologists/general surgeons to obtain information related to patient management, practice demographics, access to specialist services, patient numbers, awareness of guidelines, and perceptions about a potential national registry for disease surveillance. Methods A cross-sectional, descriptive survey. Electronic surveys were sent to gastroenterologists and general surgeons and postal surveys were sent to general practitioners working within the Republic of Ireland. Results The response rate for the general practitioner survey was 69% and 34% for the gastroenterologist/general surgeon survey. Majority of general practitioners (79%) and gastroenterologists/general surgeons (82.5%) reported seeing chronic pancreatitis patients in their practice. Almost all general practitioners (96%) and 69.1% of gastroenterologists/general surgeons were unaware of any national or international consensus guidelines for the management of chronic pancreatitis. Conclusions This study highlights the deficits in both primary and hospital based care in Ireland, and specifically emphasises that chronic pancreatitis is not being managed as a chronic disease in primary care. Moreover, this study identified a lack of guideline awareness of the existing chronic pancreatitis guidelines amongst specialists. These data provide guidance on the potential for education and training.