Acute necrotizing pancreatitis, lactic acidosis and prolonged hypoglycemia in a hemodialysed patient--a logical but unfortunately fatal combination.

A hemodialysed patient with abdominal pain, severe lactic acidosis and prolonged hypoglycemia is described. The diagnosis of acute necrotizing pancreatitis was delayed and the patient died from both systemic and peripancreatic complications of the acute pancreatitis. The article deals with the problem of diagnosing acute pancreatitis in an end-stage renal failure (ESRF) patient; on the possible surgical options open to the physician in the management of acute pancreatitis and on a pathophysiological explanation behind both the lactic acidosis and hypoglycemia in this patient.