Right-sided massive hemorrhagic pleural effusion with pancreaticopleural fistula secondary to pancreatitis: A rare cause of pediatric respiratory distress

• Main Authors: H S Vinayaka, Dhananjaya Sarji Rudrappa, H S Sathish
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2020-01-01
• Series: Journal of Pediatric Critical Care
• Subjects: hemorrhagic pleural effusion; pancreaticopleural fistula; pancreatitis; respiratory distress
• Online Access: http://www.jpcc.org.in/article.asp?issn=2349-6592;year=2020;volume=7;issue=4;spage=206;epage=208;aulast=Vinayaka
• ISSN: 2349-6592; 2455-7099

Hemorrhagic pleural effusion secondary to pancreaticopleural fistula (PPF) due to acute-on chronic pancreatitis is a very rare cause of pediatric respiratory distress. Hemorrhagic pleural effusion secondary to PPF will be usually left sided and accounts for 1% of all cases; very rarely, it could be right sided resulting in difficulty in establishing the diagnosis if chest symptoms are disproportionately more than the abdominal symptoms. We report a 9-year-old male child who presented to us with severe respiratory distress, with insignificant history later found to have right-sided massive hemorrhagic pleural effusion with PPF secondary to acute-on chronic pancreatitis.