Pancreatitis induced by intravenous infusion of a fat emulsion in an alcoholic patient.

We report an alcoholic patient with acute relapsing pancreatitis in whom the intravenous infusion of a fat emulsion precipitated a bout of acute pancreatitis. The various relationships between pancreatitis, alcoholism, and hyperlipemia are not clear, and guidelines for the use of intravenous fat emulsions in patients with pancreatitis should take into account their complex interrelationship.