2021 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 88-92
A 43‒year‒old Japanese man underwent transsphenoidal surgery for a pituitary adenoma. The onset of upper abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting occurred 3 hr, 50 min after the surgery. On the first day post‒surgery, laboratory tests revealed a significant elevation of the amylase level, and abdominal echo and computed tomography (CT) showed acute pancreatitis. Postoperative pancreatitis was diagnosed. The patient was fasted and infused with analgesics and antibiotics, and he recovered from the pancreatitis. Although we could not identify the cause of the pancreatitis, we suspected that the circulatory disturbance of the pancreas and/or the propofol and/or glucocorticoids administered during the surgery might have contributed to the patient’s acute pancreatitis. Postoperative pancreatitis can occur even after neurosurgery. Upper abdominal pain is considered to be a finding of acute pancreatitis, and it is necessary to perform laboratory tests, abdominal echo, and abdominal CT immediately in such cases.
