Drug-Induced Acute Pancreatitis: Uncommon or Commonplace

Many drugs have been implicated as causing acute pancreatitis (AP), mainly based on the recurrence of pancreatitis following rechallenge with a drug that the patient had been taking at the time of an initial episode of AP. However, estimates of the relative frequency with which drugs cause AP vary widely. This is largely because many patients may be taking a number of drugs, may have co-morbidities such as gallstone disease or hypertriglyceridemia, or may be consuming large amounts of alcohol, making it difficult to determine what actually is the primary cause of an episode of AP. Large, rigorously designed epidemdiological studies are needed to better define the frequency with which the drugs in general cause AP and the specific risk of pancreatitis associated with any individual drug.