Haemorrhagic pseudocyst of the pancreatic tail causing acute abdominal pain in a 12-year-old girl

Abstract

Pancreatic disorders are a relatively uncommon event in children, particularly the development of pancreatic pseudocysts. The most common cause for the development of such pseudocysts is blunt abdominal trauma with injury of the pancreatic parenchyma. Further aetiologies include congenital anomalies of the pancreatic duct such as pancreatic divisum, hereditary or idiopathic pancreatitis. Various treatment options for pancreatic pseudocysts including internal or external drainage have been described. We describe the case of a 12-year-old girl with acute abdominal pain and a left-sided retroperitoneal tumour. She underwent laparotomy to identify the aetiology of her severe abdominal pain. A haemorrhagic pancreatic pseudocyst was identified as the underlying pathology. Internal drainage by pseudocyst jejunostomy was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful. The underlying aetiology of the pseudocyst remains unclear. As there was no previous history of pancreatitis, unrecognized blunt trauma was the most likely cause. Keywords : childhood, haemorrhage, pancreatic pseudocyst, retroperitoneal tumour