Drug-induced acute pancreatitis
Tracie Kaurich, PharmD
Reports of drug-induced acute pancreatitis (AP) have been published since the 1950s, and each year the list of drugs associated with AP increases. There are many etiological risk factors of AP, including a history of alcohol abuse, gallstones, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and manometry, trauma or surgical procedures near the pancreas, certain medications, hyperlipidemia, infection, and chronic hypercalcemia (1, 2). Knowledge of the true incidence of drug-induced AP is dependent on clinicians excluding other possible causes and reporting the event. It can be difficult to rule out other causes of AP, especially in patients who have multiple comorbidities, use multiple medications, and have potentially unknown underlying risk factors. A retrospective study conducted in Germany concluded that the incidence of drug-induced AP is 1.4% (3). A national survey performed in Japan in 1999 reported that 1.2% of all cases of AP were drug induced (2). Drug-induced AP is rare but should not be overlooked in a patient who presents with idiopathic AP.
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