Emphysematous cystitis complication in a patient undergoing hemodialysis

Emphysematous cystitis is a rare condition characterized by air formation in and around the bladder wall by gas-forming organisms. Although diabetes mellitus and chronic urinary infection, which are frequently encountered in patients with endstage renal disease (ESRD), are predisposing factors for this entity, emphysematous cystitis is actually not common in ESRD patients. Here we provide the first report of a hemodialysis patient who developed typical emphysematous cystitis. Unlike other cases, the emphysematous cystitis recurred after discontinuation of urinary drainage and antibiotic therapy. The possible reason that this case is of a less common type that is more refractory than the other cases, and the method by which patients with ESRD are commonly treated, are discussed. Not anuric but rather oliguric diabetic patients, even after long-term hemodialysis, are the patients at risk for emphysematous cystitis.