Severe necrotizing pancreatitis immediately after non-abdominal surgery under general anesthesia with propofol

Postoperative pancreatitis is a relatively rare disease and is poorly recognized. Herein, we present a case of necrotizing pancreatitis that developed immediately after non-abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. In this report, 4 h after thyroidectomy under general anesthesia using propofol, the patient developed upper abdominal pain and was diagnosed with severe acute pancreatitis with extensive pancreatic necrosis. Immediately after the diagnosis, the patient received appropriate treatment, and acute pancreatitis was improved. Subsequently, the patient has the formation of non-infectious giant walled-off necrosis and remained in good condition without additional treatment for 1.5 years after pancreatitis onset. In this case report, our detailed causative search suggested that propofol administration could be the cause of this pancreatitis. Propofol-induced pancreatitis is extremely rare but develops often severely, resulting in fatality. In this case, the patient developed severe acute pancreatitis within a very short time after surgery but was able to survive by immediate intervention of treatment. We suggest that clinicians should consider acute pancreatitis as a life-threatening adverse event under general anesthesia with propofol and perform thorough postoperative management.