Case Report
Copyright ©2007 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 21, 2007; 13(27): 3756-3757
Published online Jul 21, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i27.3756
An unreported complication of acute pancreatitis
G Muthukumarasamy, V Shanmugam, SR Yule, R Ravindran
G Muthukumarasamy, R Ravindran, Department of Surgery, Aberdeen University and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB25 2ZN, United Kingdom
V Shanmugam, Department of Surgery, Lincoln County Hospital, Lincoln, England, LN2 5QY, United Kingdom
SR Yule, Department of Radiology, Aberdeen University and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB25 2ZN, United Kingdom
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Mr Girivasan Muthukumarasamy, Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Surgery, Polwarth Building, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom. sur197@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone: +44-7966-228305
Received: March 2, 2007
Revised: April 10, 2007
Accepted: April 16, 2007
Published online: July 21, 2007
Abstract

Acute pancreatitis constitutes 3% of all admissions with abdominal pain. There are reports of osteal fat necrosis leading to periosteal reactions and osteolytic lesions following severe pancreatitis, particularly in long bones. A 54-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with acute pancretitis, who later developed spinal discitis secondary to necrotizing pancreatitis. He was treated conservatively with antibiotics and after a month he recovered completely without any neurological deficit. This case is reported for its unusual and unreported spinal complications after acute pancreatitis.

Keywords: Acute pancreatitis, Spinal osteomyelitis, Lumbar discitis, Fat necrosis, Necrotizing pancreatitis