Severe Hypertriglyceridemia-Induced Necrotizing Pancreatitis Associated With Ketogenic Diet in a Well-Controlled Patient With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The ketogenic diet (keto diet) has become an increasingly popular approach for both weight loss and as an alternative diet for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Owing to the nature of the keto diet, patients are at risk of developing hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) due to the high amount of triglycerides consumed by individuals during the initiation of this diet. Acute pancreatitis can result from HTG. We present a case of a 19-year-old African American male with well-controlled T2DM and no history of HTG who developed severe necrotizing HTG-induced pancreatitis after an unsupervised three-month trial of the keto diet.