Acute pancreatitis as a complication of routine colonoscopy-A rare case report

Abdominal pain after colonoscopy is a relatively common symptom and usually benign. Colonoscopy-induced pancreatitis is an extremely rare phenomenon that can sometimes be missed leading to delayed diagnosis and treatment.

A 53 year old woman presented to the Emergency Department with abdominal pain, a significantly raised lipase and a CT scan revealing pancreatitis. She had no previous history of pancreatitis or any aetiological risk factors. Her pain started 2 h after having a routine outpatient colonoscopy for polyp surveillance. The endoscopist had no difficulty during the procedure and the findings were unremarkable. She developed a Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) and an ileus requiring a prolonged hospital admission. However with conservative management she improved and was discharged on day 11 post-admission in stable condition.

The mechanism of colonoscopy-induced pancreatitis is not well understood. Hypotheses include mechanical trauma to the pancreas caused by the endoscope particularly at the splenic flexure, over-insufflation of the colon, external abdominal pressure, and transmural colonic burns via electrocautery causing irritation to the pancreas.

Pancreatitis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of abdominal pain post-colonoscopy after the more common explanations are excluded.