Extreme intraoperative hyperkalemia in a non dialysis patient undergoing kidney transplantation

The majority of patients who present for kidney transplantation have end stage renal disease and are on dialysis. Those patients are known to be at risk for the development of hyperkalemia. A patient who has not required dialysis, and with stable potassium levels would not be expected to acutely develop intraoperative hyperkalemia. Presented here is an unusual case in which a 61-year-old man with chronic renal disease but no history of dialysis developed severe intraoperative hyperkalemia during a renal transplant.