Unusual presentation of hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis in a child

• Published in: Archives de pédiatrie : organe officiel de la Société française de pédiatrie Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 264 - 266
• Main Authors: Boutbaoucht, M, Mouaffak, Y, Dilai, M-O, Najib, M, Jalal, H, El Adib, A-G, Younous, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: French
• Published: France 01.03.2012
• Subjects: Abdominal Pain - etiology; Child; Diagnosis, Differential; Humans; Hypertriglyceridemia - complications; Hypertriglyceridemia - diagnosis; Intestinal Obstruction - surgery; Lipase - blood; Male; Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing - diagnosis; Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing - etiology; Postoperative Complications - diagnosis; Postoperative Complications - etiology; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Triglycerides - blood
• ISSN: 1769-664X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.arcped.2011.12.010

Acute pancreatitis in children is rare and is characterized by clinical, biological, and etiological polymorphism. We report the case of a 6-year-old child who underwent surgery for intestinal obstruction. The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was made after the surgical exploration. Initial laboratory tests showed hyperlipasemia and mild hypertriglyceridemia. After 2 weeks of hospitalization, we found severe hypertriglyceridemia, which was considered the cause of acute pancreatitis. Based on a review of the literature, we emphasize the importance of considering acute pancreatitis in the diagnosis of abdominal pain in children. Hypertriglyceridemia is one of its rare causes and must be detected because specific treatments are needed. Blood triglyceride concentration in the initial phase can be misleading and the assay should be repeated after the acute episode.