Blunt abdominal trauma causing acute pancreatitis: presentation of the case study

Acute pancreatitis is a serious disease having a guarded prognosis. Its etiology involves either bladder or alcohol. Traumatic origin is extremely rare and it is often associated with other intra-abdominal lesions. We here report the case of a 56-year old man with a history of psychiatric disorders for which he was under therapy with neuroleptics and of left nephrotomy. He presented, after a stair fall occurred 3 days before, with occlusive syndrome. Clinical examination showed normal respiratory hemodynamic and neurological status as well as epigastric tenderness. CT scan revealed traumatic pancreatitis stage E. Laboratory tests showed many disturbances: high amylase, blood glucose, whyte blood cell count and CRP. The patient died 72 hours after mainly because of multi-system organ failure secondary to septic shock, despite appropriate resuscitation. Acute traumatic pancreatitis is a serious condition. Although it rarely occurs and it is sometimes difficult to diagnose due to the non-specificity of clinical signs, physicians should suspect it in order to manage the disease early.