100
Acute Pancreatitis during Dialysis Treatment: more Frequent and Severe in Peritoneal than in
Haemodialysis Patients
P.G. Lankisch1, B. Weber-Dany1, P. Maisonneuve2, A.B. Lowenfels3
1
Municipal Clinic of Lueneburg, Germany; 2European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy; 2New York Medical College,
Valhalla, NY, USA
Introduction: The suggestion that acute pancreatitis (AP) may occur during dialysis treatment and is more frequent after
peritoneal dialysis (PD) than during hemodialysis (HD; Gut 2001;46:385–289) was questioned.
Patients and Methods: A questionnaire was sent out to 1150 dialysis centers in Germany, asking for the incidence and
severity of a first attack of AP, in 2002. Parameters of severity were serum amylase/lipase levels 3N (p =
0.074) and have necrotizing AP (p = 0.16). Finally, they required hospitalisation more frequently.
Conclusion: A first attack of AP in dialysis patients occurs more frequently than in the general population and is more
frequent and tends to be more severe in PD than in HD patients. Gastroenterologists, who are asked to see dialysis patients
with unexplained abdominal pain, should be aware of this.