title: A case report of an 80 year old man with mesenteric panniculitis, a raised lactate and hyperglycaemia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mesenteric panniculitis is a rare condition which presents as abdominal pain. It involves benign inflammatory or fibrotic changes affecting the mesentery of the bowel.
  
  
  METHODS
  An 80 year old man presented with severe abdominal pain of acute onset. He was found to have a high lactate and high blood glucose. He was not a known diabetic. A computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a diagnosis of mesenteric panniculitis, and the patient rapidly responded to steroid treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mesenteric panniculitis has been known to present as an acute abdomen. However, an associated high lactate and hyperglycaemia is hitherto unreported in the literature. With no obvious precipitant for an increased lactate, we propose it is potentially caused by the subsequent fat necrosis and regional ischaemia associated with mesenteric panniculitis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This case report underlines the importance of further research into the relationship between mesenteric panniculitis, a high lactate, and diabetes. In addition, short term steroid treatment (one month) seemed to confer the same benefit as long term steroid treatment.
authors.affiliation: General Surgical Department, Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth, SY23 1ER, United Kingdom. Electronic address: moaizechechi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Moaize
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chechi
authors.affiliation: General Surgical Department, Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth, SY23 1ER, United Kingdom. Electronic address: zeyad.sallami@wales.nhs.uk.
authors.forename: Zeyad
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Alsallami
authors.affiliation: General Surgical Department, Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth, SY23 1ER, United Kingdom. Electronic address: lukearmstrong1088@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Armstrong
keywords: Abdominal pain; Fat necrosis; Hyperglycaemia; Mesenteric panniculitis; Raised lactate; Steroids