Pancreatitis — VA Disability Rating Criteria (DC 7347)

Diagnostic Code 7347 · 38 CFR §4.114

What Is It?

Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas, the organ behind the stomach that makes digestive enzymes and insulin. An acute attack is sudden, severe, usually treated in hospital, and either resolves or does not; when attacks recur or the gland is permanently scarred, it becomes chronic pancreatitis, and the pancreas loses the ability both to digest fat and, eventually, to control blood sugar. The schedule has one entry for it: 38 CFR 4.114, DC 7347, "Pancreatitis, chronic." There is no separate code for an acute attack — a single episode that resolves leaves nothing to evaluate, so what gets rated is the pattern that follows it. The criteria were rewritten effective 19 May 2024 and they no longer read on weight loss or steatorrhea as such. They read on three things: how often the abdominal or mid-back pain comes, whether it requires hospitalisation, and what treatment it takes. That structure matters, because the ladder has only three rungs — 100, 60 and 30 percent — with no 10 percent row and no 0 percent row. Where the requirements for a compensable evaluation are not met, 38 CFR 4.31 supplies a 0 percent evaluation, which still establishes service connection. This page also answers for DC 7343: an earlier version of this site rated pancreatitis under that number, but 38 CFR 4.114 lists DC 7343 as "Malignant neoplasms of the digestive system, exclusive of skin growths" — the digestive-cancer entry, a flat 100 percent that continues through treatment and for six months after it stops, then goes to a mandatory VA examination.

Rating Criteria

Evidence Needed

The claim is built on documented episodes, so the record has to show them: emergency department and admission records with dates, discharge summaries stating the diagnosis, and outpatient notes showing ongoing treatment for pain or digestive problems between attacks. Note (1) to DC 7347 requires that appropriate diagnostic studies confirm the abdominal pain results from pancreatitis, so include the imaging that establishes the disease — CT, MRI/MRCP, endoscopic ultrasound, or radiographs showing pancreatic calcification — along with lipase and amylase results from the acute episodes. Where exocrine failure is part of the picture, add fecal elastase or fat-balance testing and the prescription record for pancreatic enzyme replacement. Where a pseudocyst, an obstruction or ascites has been treated, include those operative and procedure reports. And bring the service evidence for causation: alcohol-related, gallstone, traumatic, medication-induced and post-ERCP pancreatitis all have different in-service stories, and the nexus argument turns on which one the record supports.

C&P Exam Tips

Come with a dated list of every attack and every hospitalisation, because the difference between 30 and 60 percent is a count and the difference between 60 and 100 percent is a count plus a treatment description. Say plainly whether the pain is daily. Describe where it is — the schedule names abdominal or mid-back pain, and mid-back pain that radiates from the front is easily written up as a spine complaint if you do not connect it. If you take pancreatic enzymes with meals, bring the bottle or the prescription, and say whether a physician manages your pain rather than you managing it yourself, because the 100 percent row asks for both physician pain management and enzyme supplementation on top of daily pain and three admissions a year. If you have been diagnosed with diabetes since the pancreatitis started, raise it: Note (2) directs that endocrine dysfunction resulting in diabetes due to pancreatic insufficiency be rated separately under DC 7913, so it is a second rating rather than a symptom of this one.

How to File

File under DC 7347 on VA Form 21-526EZ with the admission records, the confirmatory imaging, and the outpatient treatment record. One structural rule governs strategy here: the opening paragraph of 38 CFR 4.114 provides that ratings under DC 7301 through 7329, 7331, 7342, 7345 through 7350, 7352 and 7355 through 7357 will not be combined with each other. DC 7347 is inside that group, so a veteran with pancreatitis and another listed digestive condition gets one evaluation under the code reflecting the predominant disability picture, elevated to the next higher evaluation if the overall severity warrants. The argument to make is therefore which condition predominates and whether elevation is warranted — not how to stack two digestive ratings. Diabetes under DC 7913 is outside that group and is combined normally.

Common Mistakes

Filing under DC 7343, which is the schedule's malignant-neoplasm entry for the digestive system, not pancreatitis. Describing symptoms rather than counting episodes: this code is written in frequencies and hospitalisations, and a narrative about constant discomfort with no dated attacks supports the lowest row at best. Expecting a 10 percent rating — the ladder is 100, 60 and 30, and there is no 10 percent step. Quoting the pre-2024 criteria, which read on weight loss and steatorrhea; those terms no longer appear in the entry. Leaving diabetes inside the pancreatitis claim instead of claiming it separately under DC 7913 as Note (2) directs. And skipping the confirmatory study Note (1) requires, which is the cleanest ground for denying an otherwise well-documented pain history.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a 10 percent rating for pancreatitis?

No. DC 7347 has three listed rows — 100, 60 and 30 percent. The 30 percent row needs at least one episode a year of abdominal or mid-back pain requiring ongoing outpatient treatment. Below that, 38 CFR 4.31 supplies a 0 percent evaluation, which establishes service connection and leaves the claim open for a later increase.

How is acute pancreatitis rated?

It is not, on its own. The schedule lists only "Pancreatitis, chronic" at DC 7347. A single acute attack that resolves leaves nothing to evaluate; what gets rated is the recurrent or chronic pattern that follows, measured by how often the pain comes and what treatment it takes.

What does DC 7343 cover?

Malignant neoplasms of the digestive system, exclusive of skin growths — a flat 100 percent rating that continues beyond the end of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or other treatment. Six months after treatment stops, a mandatory VA examination sets the rating on residuals, with any reduction subject to 38 CFR 3.105(e).

Can I get a separate rating for diabetes caused by my pancreatitis?

Yes, and the schedule says so directly. Note (2) to DC 7347 directs that endocrine dysfunction resulting in diabetes due to pancreatic insufficiency be separately evaluated under DC 7913. Because DC 7913 sits outside the digestive non-combination group, the two ratings combine under 38 CFR 4.25.

Does weight loss still matter?

Not as a criterion. The 2024 revision took weight loss and steatorrhea out of this entry and replaced them with episode frequency, hospitalisation and treatment. Maldigestion and malabsorption requiring dietary restriction and enzyme supplementation still appear, but only as part of the conjunctive 100 percent row. Weight-loss terms elsewhere in 38 CFR 4.114 are defined in 38 CFR 4.112.

What counts as an episode?

The entry does not define one, which is why the medical record does the work. A documented presentation for abdominal or mid-back pain — an emergency visit, an admission, or an outpatient visit that results in treatment — is what a rater can count. Pain you managed at home without contacting anyone is invisible to the file, so report it at your next appointment even after it passes.