A rare case report of ascending colon perforation secondary to acute pancreatitis

Severe acute pancreatitis is associated with high morbidity and mortality. This is a result of the development of pancreatic and extra-pancreatic necrosis with subsequent infection which can lead to multiorgan failure. Complications include localized ileus, abscess formation, mechanical obstruction, rupture and perforation into the gastrointestinal tract and fistula formation (Aldridge et al., 1989; Bassi et al., 2001 [1,2]).

A 72 year old man attended the emergency department with acute epigastric pain. Biochemistry results were reviewed with a lipase of 1680 U/L (ref range <60 U/L). He was treated conservatively. He had a labile course throughout his admission and on day 7 he had significant deterioration. Abdominal CT scan demonstrated marked mechanical large bowel obstruction at the level of the sigmoid colon, caecum dilated with features suggestive of ischaemia in the caecal wall and backflow dilatation of the small bowel loops. The patient was transferred to a tertiary centre for subsequent laparotomy and bowel resection.

Colonic complications of acute pancreatitis are uncommon. An analysis of pooled data reports the incidence of colonic complications from acute pancreatitis to be 3.3% and those from severe acute pancreatitis 15% (Bassi et al., 2001 [2]). Knowledge about colonic perforation from acute pancreatitis has been limited to few case reports, thus diagnostic and management dilemmas continue to persist.

We report a rare case of ascending colon perforation in severe acute pancreatitis. This is particularly unusual given the anatomical propensity for splenic flexure involvement or transverse colon involvement being noted in literature. This highlights the high index of suspicion required for colonic complications given the varied, non-specific and often delayed presentation of complications.