Acute chylous ascites with carcinoid of the pancreas

Acute chylous ascites is of idiopathic origin in 50 per cent of cases, the remainder being accounted for by trauma and intestinal obstruction. It usually presents with acute abdominal pain. Neoplastic disease is much more common in chronic cases, and lymphomas comprise about half of these. Chronic chylous ascites usually presents without pain but with inanition and hypoproteinaemia. This report describes acute chylous ascites following trauma in a patient who was subsequently found to have a pancreatic carcinoid, the lymphangiographic findings being of particular interest.