Overview
Introduction
The exocrine pancreas produces lipase, protease, and amylase.
The exocrine pancreas produces lipase, protease, and amylase. Lipase digests fat, protease digests protein, and amylase digests carbohydrates. When enzyme delivery is inadequate, fat malabsorption is often most visible: bulky, greasy, foul-smelling stools, gas, abdominal cramping, diarrhea, and weight loss. Common clinical contexts include chronic pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis, pancreatic cancer, pancreatic surgery, and other causes of EPI. Persistent symptoms during therapy should trigger assessment of timing, administration method, food intake, and need for RN/prescriber/dietitian review. For NCLEX-PN (United States), items rarely announce the topic in the first sentence. Anchor to objective data, trajectory, and the safest next step for the role named in the stem before distractors compete.