Insulin infusion therapy in hypertriglyceridemia induced acute pancreatitis: Retrospective Case series of Seven patients from a Specialist Hospital, UAE

Background and Objectives: Triglyceride (TG) lowering therapy is imperative in hypertriglyceridemia induced acute pancreatitis (HTG-AP). Intravenous insulin with or without heparin, Plasmapheresis, CRRT and purified apo CⅡ infusion are available regimens. However, there are no definite guidelines on first-line therapy. Plasmapheresis, CRRT and purified apo CⅡ infusion may not be available at all centres managing patients with pancreatitis. We searched for keywords Hypertrigia, acute pancreatitis and Insulin infusion in PubMed, Medline, and Google Scholar databases. The search included articles published from January 1970 to October 2022 with no langulyceridemage restrictions. The search yielded 407 citations in English; 356 of the articles were excluded as they were not relevant; 29 articles were excluded since they were duplicates, leaving 22 articles. Full-text articles of the 22 citations were obtained and reviewed. Only two prior cases reported in literature were found wherein insulin infusion alone was used in the management of HTG-AP. This paper is a retrospective case series of 7 patients who presented to a specialist hospital in UAE with hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis and their successful management with Insulin infusion therapy.

Keywords: Hypertriglyceridemia, acute pancreatitis, Insulin infusion.