Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine

Introduction: Pancreatitis after esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is not a common occurrence, particularly in the setting of a normal serum lipase. The lack of commonality may delay diagnosis and treatment in some patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with abdominal pain after an otherwise uncomplicated procedure.

Case Report: A patient with a history of gastroesophageal reflux disease presented to the ED with a complaint of abdominal pain and fever three days after an uncomplicated EGD. The patient was ultimately diagnosed with pancreatitis after a computed tomography showed pancreatic head inflammation, despite having a normal serum lipase. There were no other identified risk factors for pancreatitis in this case.

Conclusion: This case serves to bring awareness to this potential procedural complication and the possibility of pancreatitis with a normal serum lipase.