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TL;DR
- Chronic pancreatitis has its own code, DC 7347. The current criteria are 30, 60, and 100 percent.
- A painful episode, a hospital admission, and ongoing outpatient treatment are different facts. Document each one.
- Your records must connect the abdominal pain to pancreatitis through appropriate diagnostic studies.
- The schedule expressly allows a separate rating for diabetes due to pancreatic insufficiency.
- Board data for pancreatitis is not published on Claim Raven yet. This page gives no estimated approval rate.
The rating schedule, word for word
The following text is from DC 7347 in 38 CFR § 4.114. Percentages appear in the rating column of the regulation.
7347 Pancreatitis, chronic:
| Rating | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 100% | Daily episodes of abdominal or mid-back pain that require three or more hospitalizations per year; and pain management by a physician; and maldigestion and malabsorption requiring dietary restriction and pancreatic enzyme supplementation |
| 60% | Three or more episodes of abdominal or mid-back pain per year and at least one episode per year requiring hospitalization for management either of complications related to abdominal pain or complications of tube enteral feeding |
| 30% | At least one episode per year of abdominal or mid-back pain that requires ongoing outpatient medical treatment for pain, digestive problems, or management of related complications including but not limited to cyst, pseudocyst, intestinal obstruction, or ascites |
Note (1): Appropriate diagnostic studies must confirm that abdominal pain in this condition results from pancreatitis.
Note (2): Separately rate endocrine dysfunction resulting in diabetes due to pancreatic insufficiency under DC 7913 (Diabetes mellitus).
What each level means in practice
30 percent: Show the episode and the ongoing outpatient care it required. Useful records include your gastroenterology notes, diagnostic results, treatment plan, and follow-up visits. A diagnosis entered on a problem list does not document the full criterion.
60 percent: The record needs the required episodes and a qualifying hospitalization. Keep discharge summaries that explain why you were admitted. An emergency visit that ends without admission should not be described as a hospitalization.
100 percent: Read the whole row. It joins daily pain, the required hospitalizations, physician pain management, and digestive impairment requiring both dietary restriction and enzyme supplementation. Taking enzymes alone does not establish this level.
DC 7347 does not list a zero-percent row. Under § 4.31, VA assigns zero percent when the requirements for a compensable evaluation are not met. Service connection and the rating percentage are separate questions.
How to prove service connection
For direct service connection under § 3.303, your evidence should establish chronic pancreatitis, the relevant illness, injury, or symptoms during service, and a medical explanation connecting them. An acute episode in service is relevant evidence, but the record still needs to explain the relationship to your current chronic condition.
For secondary service connection under § 3.310, identify the already service-connected disability or its treatment and obtain a medical opinion about causation or aggravation. If medication is the proposed link, include the name, timing, dose history, and your clinician's reasoning. The fact that treatment came first does not prove it caused pancreatitis.
A rating code is not a presumption of service connection. Do not assume that digestive symptoms or a deployment establish presumptive eligibility. A claimed presumption needs its own applicable disease and service requirements.
The C&P exam and DBQ
The Pancreas DBQ is the relevant public form. A compensation and pension (C&P) exam helps VA document your diagnosis and current impairment; it is separate from treatment.
Prepare a dated summary of pain episodes, outpatient care, admissions, diet prescriptions, and enzyme treatment. Bring or identify the medical records that support it. Explain how symptoms affect meals, attendance, and ordinary activities. Keep your descriptions consistent with what happened, including periods when symptoms improved.
The diagnostic studies matter because the code specifically requires confirmation that pancreatitis causes the abdominal pain. If you also have IBS or GERD, ask your clinician to explain which symptoms belong to which diagnosis.
Common denial reasons and evidence gaps
These are issues to check in your decision, not measured frequencies from Board appeals:
- The record does not establish a current chronic condition.
- A medical opinion does not explain the link to service or a service-connected disability.
- The file lists painful days but lacks the treatment or admission records required for the requested level.
- Digestive symptoms are attributed to a different condition without enough evidence to resolve the difference.
Separate a denial of service connection from a disagreement about the percentage. They require different missing evidence.
Secondary conditions
DC 7347 specifically addresses diabetes resulting from pancreatic insufficiency. The medical record should establish that relationship rather than assuming every diabetes diagnosis has that cause.
Other claimed conditions still need their own diagnosis and a supported causal or aggravation link. Symptoms already used for pancreatitis cannot simply be counted again under another label.
How it combines with other ratings
Section 4.114 prohibits combining several digestive codes with each other, including DC 7347 and the IBS code. VA uses the code reflecting the predominant disability picture, with elevation to the next higher evaluation when the overall severity warrants it. The explicit separate-diabetes instruction remains relevant.
For disabilities that may be rated separately, use the combined-rating calculator. VA combines percentages under § 4.25 rather than adding them. The calculator does not decide whether separate evaluations are legally allowed.
Bottom line
Organize the records around the actual criteria: confirmed pancreatic disease, dated episodes, ongoing treatment, admissions, and digestive support. Those details explain severity more clearly than a pain score alone.
Methodology and limitations
The criteria were checked against the committed eCFR code index and live § 4.114 on October 2, 2026. The table reproduces the current text; the practical explanations are summaries. Earlier rating periods may require earlier versions of the regulation. No individual outcome, Board rate, or compensation amount is predicted here.
Sources
- 38 CFR § 4.114, DC 7347 and digestive combination rules (opens in a new tab)
- 38 CFR § 4.31, zero-percent evaluations (opens in a new tab)
- 38 CFR § 3.303, direct service connection (opens in a new tab)
- 38 CFR § 3.310, secondary service connection (opens in a new tab)
- 38 CFR § 4.14, overlapping symptoms (opens in a new tab)
- 38 CFR § 4.25, combined ratings (opens in a new tab)
- Pancreas DBQ and official VA form