Necrotizing Pancreatitis: To Anticoagulate or Not to Anticoagulate?

Necrotizing pancreatitis is an inflammatory process that poses a strong risk of systemic venous thromboembolism. However, it is often challenging to opt for systemic anticoagulation since the disease is also associated with an increased risk of hemorrhage. Given these opposing complications, a risk versus benefit analysis has to be employed in the management of necrotizing pancreatitis on a case-by-case basis. We discuss a case where the team was faced with a dilemma regarding anticoagulation in a patient with newly developed atrial fibrillation in the setting of necrotizing pancreatitis. We found that there is a lack of guidelines that address the time of initiation and the type of systemic anticoagulation that should be administered in such patients.