A case report of gastroparesis secondary to acute renal failure

A 45-year-old female with a background of poorly differentiated ovarian adenocarcinoma treated with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy presented with one week history of nausea, vomiting and decreased urine output. On examination, she was mildly dehydrated but haemodynamically stable. Abdominal examination revealed tender swelling in upper abdomen. Biochemistry revealed that she had acute renal failure and interestingly the acute renal failure was out of proportion to the degree of dehydration. Abdominal ultrasound showed marked distension of the stomach without any evidence of renal tract obstruction. She was aggressively treated with volume replacement and careful monitoring of input and output. She responded very well to fluid replacement and her renal failure resolved within four days of treatment. This case illustrates a case of acute renal failure secondary to gastroparesis which resolved after treatment of renal failure. Patients with chronic renal failure are prone to develop gastroparesis but it is extremely rare to have gastric stasis following acute renal failure. This case also illustrates the importance of aggressive treatment of a reversible but potentially fatal medical condition which could have been easily overlooked in view of patient's poorly differentiated ovarian cancer.