Travis Barker hospitalised for ‘pancreatitis triggered by colonoscopy’

The 46-year-old Blink-182 drummer, Travis Barker, was hospitalized for ‘pancreatitis’ after undergoing ‘colonoscopy’ that triggered the condition.

The drummer remains under medical care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, where his new wife Kourtney Kardashian is by his side.

According to TMZ, Travis’ doctors believe that his pancreatitis which is an inflammation of the pancreas was ‘triggered’ by a recent colonoscopy.

A colonoscopy is a test to check inside your bowels.

This test can help find what’s causing your bowel symptoms.

A long, thin, flexible tube with a small camera inside it is passed into your bottom.

You’ll be given a laxative so your bowels are empty for the test.

Pancreatitis is when the pancreas a small organ behind the stomach that helps with digestion becomes inflamed.

There are two types of the condition; Acute pancreatitis, which is triggered suddenly and subsides within about a week, and chronic pancreatitis, where the pancreas is inflamed from permanent damage over many years.

Acute pancreatitis is often linked to gallstones which form in the gallbladder by the liver and drinking too much alcohol. But in rare cases it could also be triggered by a colonoscopy.

In one example published in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports, a 53-year-old woman developed pancreatitis after having a routine colonoscopy to check for possible cancers.

Symptoms of acute pancreatitis include:

Suddenly suffering severe pain in the center of the abdomen;

Feeling or being sick;

Having a temperature above 100F (38C). 

Patients suffering from the condition are generally admitted to hospital.

Treatment includes being put on an intravenous drip and receiving pain relief. Patients may also be given liquid food through a tube in their stomach and oxygen through tubes in their nose.
Most cases of acute pancreatitis see patients discharged from hospital within a few days and recover after about a week.

But in some cases patients can suffer severe illnesses which may leave long-term complications. In very rare cases it can prove fatal.