Body system: Digestive SystemRegulation: 38 CFR § 4.114
Chronic pancreatitis is long-term inflammation of the pancreas that causes severe ongoing digestive problems and intense abdominal pain. The VA rates this condition from 30% to 100% based on how often you have pain episodes, how many times you need hospitalization, and how severely it affects your ability to digest food. Higher ratings require daily pain with multiple hospitalizations per year and needing special enzymes just to digest your meals.
Rating levels
- 100% — You must have daily stomach or mid-back pain that's severe enough to require hospitalization at least three times per year, and you need ongoing pain treatment from a doctor. Additionally, your pancreas can't properly break down and absorb food (maldigestion and malabsorption), which means you have to follow a restricted diet and take pancreatic enzyme pills with meals to help digest your food.
- 60% — You must have three or more episodes of severe stomach or mid-back pain each year, and at least one of those episodes must be serious enough to require hospitalization. The hospitalization could be for complications from the abdominal pain itself or for problems related to tube feeding (when nutrition is delivered directly to your stomach through a tube because you can't eat normally).
- 30% — To qualify for this rating, you must have chronic pancreatitis that causes at least one episode per year of stomach pain or mid-back pain that's severe enough to require ongoing medical treatment from a doctor. The VA will also rate you at this level if you need ongoing treatment for digestive problems or serious complications like cysts (fluid-filled sacs), pseudocysts (collections of pancreatic fluid), intestinal blockages, or ascites (fluid buildup in your belly).