A case report of bloody pancreatitis

INTRODUCTION: Haemobilia is an uncommon entity even though its frequency has increased with hepato-biliary instrumentation and procedures. It can be associated with obstructive jaundice and pancreatitis (Green et al., 2001) [1]. Haemobilia following cholecystectomy has frequently been reported in association with hepatic artery pseudo-aneurysm (Curet et al., 1981; Ribeiro et al., 1998) [2,3]. The authors wish to report a case of haemobilia due to a porto-biliary fistula presenting as acute pancreatitis. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 34-year-old female admitted as an urgency with upper abdominal pain for 3 weeks. She had, in the preceding days, been admitted to another hospital with acute pancreatitis. She reported an episode of rectal bleeding during that admission and possessed an abdominal ultrasound scan (USS) and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) which suggested the presence of a biliary tract neoplasm. The patient was also found to be jaundiced and the diagnosis of a porto-biliary fistula was made at operation. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis in this case was found to be a portal vein-biliary tract fistula occurring post cholecystectomy. An awareness of the spectrum of complications related to modern surgical techniques may aid timely diagnosis and the achievement of favourable outcomes.