Open AccessIn trauma, expect the unexpected: a rare case of post-traumatic pancreatitis associated with salmonellosis and enterocolitis
Author(s) -
Nadja Apelt,
Emily Thompson,
Erica Brown,
David T. Schindel
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
bmj case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1757-790X
DOI - 10.1136/bcr-2018-226286
Subject(s) - medicine , pancreatitis , exploratory laparotomy , clostridium difficile colitis , surgery , nausea , abdomen , paraplegia , abdominal pain , clostridium difficile , antibiotics , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , psychiatry , spinal cord
A 16-year-old Hispanic man was transferred to our level I paediatric trauma centre with pancreatitis. Ten days prior, he had sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen requiring an exploratory laparotomy for repair of a traumatic left diaphragmatic injury. Additional injuries included gastric, renal, liver and pancreatic lacerations as well as a T12 burst fracture that resulted in paraplegia. Conservative management of pancreatitis was unsuccessful over the next 10 days, resulting in progressive symptoms of severe unresolved pain, nausea, emesis and rising lipase. Workup for post-traumatic, biliary and drug-associated causes of pancreatitis was negative, and no anatomical abnormalities were found on imaging. A fever workup on hospital day 10 revealed a urinary tract infection with non-typhoid Salmonella sp, and subsequent stool and imaging studies revealed salmonellosis associated with right-sided colitis and Clostridium difficile infection. Pancreatitis resolved within 48 hours following treatment of salmonellosis and Clostridium .