Introduction:

Insulinoma is a neuroendocrine neoplasm considered one of the rarest, it arises in the beta cells of the islets of Langerhans, it produces insulin constantly, thus causing hypoglycemia. Its diagnosis is based on clinical, analytical and imaging criteria. Curative treatment is surgery, through enucleation of the tumor, partial or total pancreatectomy, or cephalic pancreaticoduodenectomy. The current pandemic gave rise to new action protocols, in order to adapt health resources without compromising the safety of patients and health personnel.

Objective:

To present a clinical case of a patient diagnosed with insulinoma who required surgical treatment in the course of COVID-19.

Clinical case:

48-year-old female patient, with episodes of severe hypoglycemia and difficulty in proper clinical follow up. She was diagnosed with insulinoma and COVID-19, the latter worsened the patient's symptoms in such a way that adequate metabolic control was impossible. Surgical treatment was decided. The tumor was enucleated, without complications.

Conclusions:

Surgery is the definitive treatment to achieve cure in the case of neuroendocrine tumors, COVID-19 worsens the prognosis of patients with this tumor. Therefore, the decision of surgical treatment must be made in a multidisciplinary discussion in order to avoid postoperative complications.

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