Acute pancreatitis as a complication of Crohn's disease

Two cases of Crohn's disease coincidental with acute pancreatitis are described. Both patients were diagnosed as suffering from acute pancreatitis by hyperamlasemia and ultrasonography. Both had received a previous diagnosis of Crohn's ileocolitis. Crohn's disease was active in one patient at the onset of pancreatitis but was inactive in the other. We saw no factor that was obviously responsible for the pancreatitis in these patients. We also review other cases of Crohn's disease accompanied with pancreatitis that have been reported previously in the literature. In six cases, no cause was established for the pancreatitis, other than the Crohn's disease itself. We assume that pancreatitis, although rare, may be one of the extra-intestinal complications of Crohn's disease.