Pancreatic laceration

Case contributed by Henry Knipe
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Motorbike accident. Upper abdominal pain. FAST negative.

Patient Data

Age: 50 years
Gender: Male
ct

Fat stranding and small volume of blood within the left upper quadrant and left retroperitoneal space. A linear hypodensity is seen through the tail of the pancreas. Dense left adrenal nodule most likely represents a hematoma in this context. There is a small left perinephric hematoma. 

Annotated image
  • Blue arrow = linear hypodensity through edematous pancreatic tail reflecting a pancreatic laceration. 
  • Yellow arrow = left adrenal nodule, presumably a hematoma. 
  • Red arrow = peripancreatic fluid, fat stranding and hematoma. 

Case Discussion

This pancreatic laceration was managed non-operatively, although the patient did go on to develop a pseudocyst. 

Pancreatic lacerations can be difficult to identify but as in this case, there are a few subtle clues such as pancreatic edema, linear hypodensity, as well as surrounding fat stranding and fluid/hematoma. 

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