A drug that has multiple reports of causing pancreatitis and that is reported to cause pancreatitis following re-exposure is a more credible cause of pancreatitis.
Risk factors for drug-induced acute pancreatitis:
(1) hypercalcemia (hyperparathyroidism, vitamin D intoxication, metastatic cancer to bone, tumor lysis syndrome, calcium infusion, etc)
(2) immunosuppression or immunodeficiency (transplant recipients, HIV disease, other)
(3) hyperlipidemia, especially with chylomicronemia
(4) autoimmune disease
(5) if the implicated drug is taken in high dose
(6) if the drug is taken with other drugs capable of causing pancreatitis, including alcohol
A patient should be observant for signs of pancreatitis if one or more risk factors is/are present.
