The use of double-contrast computed axial tomography (CAT) in the diagnosis of ascarisinduced acute pancreatitis

Abstract

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most frequent gastrointestinal diseases that generates admissions to the emergency room. Documenting its etiology has great therapeutic and prognostic implications. Despite gallstones being its main cause, around 10% of cases can be caused by parasites (1) (2). We present the case of a young adult patient with no significant history with sudden and severe pain in the epigastrium, with suspicion of AP, incidentally finding an ascaris in the toilet blister by means of abdominal CT as the causative agent. Undoubtedly, this case shows the importance of diagnostic images for the approach to acute abdominal pain in the emergency room.