Eluxadoline-induced pancreatitis occurring in an adult man without a prior cholecystectomy

Abstract

Eluxadoline is a novel medication that was approved in the USA in 2015 for the treatment of diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. Due to its unique mechanism of action as both an opioid agonist and antagonist, it has been placed as a schedule IV controlled substance. Since its approval, there have been several cases of eluxadoline-induced pancreatitis reported in the literature. The majority of patients who presented with eluxadoline-induced pancreatitis were reported to have had a prior cholecystectomy. Due to this, the Food and Drug Administration released a warning in 2017 that eluxadoline should no longer be used in patients who do not have a gall bladder. We present a rare case of an adult man without prior cholecystectomy who presented with severe mid-epigastric pain and was found to have eluxadoline-induced pancreatitis.