Open AccessCannabis-Induced Pancreatitis in a Young Adult Male
Author(s) -
M. K. Sly,
Kiley Clark,
George Karaghossian,
Vishal K Narang,
Manrajan Gill,
Alan Ragland
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of investigative medicine high impact case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.247
H-Index - 10
ISSN - 2324-7096
DOI - 10.1177/23247096211035238
Subject(s) - medicine , cannabis , pancreatitis , etiology , gallstones , nausea , acute pancreatitis , vomiting , epigastric pain , pediatrics , psychiatry
Drugs account for 2% of all the causes of acute pancreatitis. To date, there are approximately 26 reported cases of acute pancreatitis associated with the use of cannabis. We report the case of a 20-year-old male who presented with intractable nausea, vomiting, and epigastric pain and a lipase level of 1541 with reportedly no alcohol use, and no evidence of medication, biliary, or autoimmune etiology. However, the patient did endorse heavily smoking cannabis prior to symptom onset. He was instructed to abstain from cannabis use on discharge and has not presented to the hospital since this episode. The reporting of this case aims to increase awareness of cannabis as a differential diagnosis in cases of pancreatitis that is not due to typical etiologies such as gallstones, medications, and alcohol use. There has yet to be definitive evidence as to how cannabis can cause pancreatitis. Further studies must be conducted to better understand the association between cannabis use and acute pancreatitis and the mechanism by which cannabis affects the pancreas.