Post-Traumatic Necrohemorragic Pancreatitis Caused by an Air Gun

Abstract

Penetrating abdominal trauma is the main cause of pancreatic lesions and delay in diagnosis or treatment can increase morbimortality. We present a case of acute necrohemorrhagic pancreatitis (ANHP) secondary to airgun injury associated with pulmonary embolism caused by the projectile in a 36 year old man. He underwent urgent surgery, appreciating pancreatic contusion but not visualizing the projectile, located by CT scan 3mm from the inferior vena cava. The patient underwent further surgery 48 hours later for necrosectomy and the insertion of an irrigation tube, due to ANHP after the migration of the projectile into the lung. This case underlines the clinical relevance of pancreatic lesion in patients with a penetrating abdominal trauma, the diagnostic difficulty and the surgical strategy, as well as the repercussions of the migration of a foreign body through the blood stream, crossing the right heart chambers and becoming lodged in the lung.