Triad of Acute Pancreatitis Coexisting with Diabetic Ketoacidosis and Very Severe Hypertriglyceridemia Successfully Resolved with Insulin Therapy Alone

Abstract

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is known to cause mild elevations in triglyceride levels. Severe hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is a well-known cause of acute pancreatitis; however, in unique cases, DKA has been shown to cause severe HTG leading to the development of acute pancreatitis (AP). HTG causing AP only accounts for 1-4% of cases of AP From the few cases in literature that have reported this triad of DKA, HTG, and AP, even fewer have shown to be successfully treated with insulin therapy alone with the severe degree of HTG that we discuss. In our case, we have treated a triad of DKA, AP and severe HTG with a value of 16076 mg/dL with insulin therapy alone, which has not been documented in our literature search