Pancreatitis post-bone marrow transplantation

Abstract

Pancreatitis has been reported as a rare complication after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). This paper reports a series of three cases of pancreatitis post-BMT and reviews the literature. Pancreatitis occurred in three of 68 (4.4%) of BMT cases in our transplant program. The etiology of such cases is multifactorial and includes drugs, graft-versus-host disease, infection, cholecystitis, and the lipid in total parenteral nutrition. Pancreatitis should be included in the differential diagnosis of abdominal pain post-BMT. The development of a pancreatic pseudocyst in an immunocompromised host may require surgical drainage since infected pseudocysts are not drained adequately by radiologically guided techniques.