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CASE REPORT
Year : 2013  |  Volume : 2  |  Issue : 4  |  Page : 278-282

Orlistat-induced acute pancreatitis in a type II diabetic and hypothyroid young woman : A case report


Department of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology, Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Correspondence Address:
Ranjita Santra
Department of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology, Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata - 700 001, West Bengal
India
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/2278-344X.126752

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Background: Orlistat is an anti-obesity drug that acts by inhibiting pancreatic and gastric lipase in the gastrointestinal tract. It has been linked to rare instances of acute pancreatitis, some of which have been severe. Case Report: A 31-year-old obese woman was prescribed orlistat 120-mg capsule three times a day with each main meal containing fat for 6 months. She developed acute abdominal pain and vomiting with epigastric tenderness 5 weeks after starting anti-obesity therapy. Serum lipase and computed Tomography (CT) scan of the patient suggested the presence of acute pancreatitis. The patient was hospitalized; orlistat was stopped and she was treated symptomatically. A diagnosis of drug-induced pancreatitis was made following exclusion of other possible factors precipitating pancreatitis. Conclusion: This case report suggests that orlistat can trigger drug-induced acute pancreatitis in some cases and clinicians should be vigilant about it. A total of 99 cases of orlistat-related pancreatitis have been reported to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but no causative link has been found in the clinical trials. It is therefore not in the list of adverse drug reactions of orlistat.


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