Acute drug-induced pancreatitis. Literature review

Greta Venckutė 1, Tomas Masilionis1, Paulius Ješkevičius1

 1 Faculty of Medicine, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

Abstract

The acute abdomen is a common and life-threatening pathology, mostly encountered in emergency care unit, that must be recognized and started to treat immediately. The pathogenesis of acute abdomen can vary widely, from functional to organic. Drug-induced pancreatitis, one of the less common causes of the likely development of an acute abdominal condition, that is not enough talked about and might often be overlooked. Most cases of drug-induced acute pancreatitis are mild to moderate in severity, but sometimes it can even claim the lives of patients. The most important aspect for a doctor to control drug-induced pancreatitis is to determine and stop admission of the very exact drug that caused it. Sometimes this can be the biggest task because of the plenty of patient’s prescripted and over-the-counter medication. It is especially important to think about the fact in treatment of elderly patients with polypharmacy. Timely recognition of pathology and appropriate granting of aid leads to good outcomes, while cases of misdiagnosis can cause serious comlications or even death. This literature review presents theories for the development of drug-induced pancreatitis, principles of clinical manifestation, diagnostics and treatment.

Keywords: pancreatitis, drug – induced, mechanism, drugs.