Elevated lipase without pancreatitis in infectious colitis.

BACKGROUND

An elevated lipase typically confirms the diagnosis of pancreatitis. Elevated lipase may be associated with other disorders, typically with some influence on the pancreas. The differential is more limited than elevated amylase secondary to the mostly unique production of lipase in pancreatic acinar cells. Elevated lipase has been reported in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, but not previously reported in infectious colitis.

METHODS

A 65-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with left lower quadrant abdominal pain radiating to her left flank worsening over 2 days. She denied epigastric pain. She had occasional nausea and occasional nonbilious and nonbloody emesis, and also reported diarrhea and weight loss over the preceding months. Laboratory values were largely unremarkable except for a grossly elevated lipase level. Computed tomography scan of her abdomen was performed and revealed findings consistent with infectious colitis, without signs of pancreatic inflammation or other findings associated with pancreatitis. She was admitted to the hospital and treated for infectious colitis with antibiotics and improved over 2 days, and was subsequently discharged for follow-up with her gastroenterologist. This is the first reported case of elevated lipase without pancreatitis associated with infectious colitis. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Emergency physicians should be aware of other potential causes of elevated lipase and not assume that all cases of elevated lipase are associated with pancreatitis. This may possibly avoid unnecessary admission in situations that are not clearly pancreatitis.