What is known and objective: Drug-induced acute pancreatitis comprises only 0.5%-2% of all cases of acute pancreatitis. Propofol is a potentially dangerous drug that can cause acute pancreatitis, but this complication is extremely rare.
Case summary: A 57-year-old patient developed acute pancreatitis after a planned thyroidectomy. As the common causes of acute pancreatitis were excluded, we believe that the pancreatitis was drug-induced, in this case by a single dose of propofol administered to the patient during the surgery.
What is new and conclusion: We present a rare case of propofol-induced acute necrotising pancreatitis, which is to the best of our knowledge the first fatal case reported in an adult patient.
Keywords: adverse drug reaction; drug-induced acute pancreatitis; propofol.
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.