Octreotide therapy for chylous ascites in a chronic dialysis patient

Abstract

Chylous ascites, a rare complication in patients receiving continuous peritoneal dialysis, often presents with turbid dialysate. This characteristic makes it frequently confused with peritonitis. Conservative treatments including bowel rest and dietary intervention with medium chain triglycerides are advised by many authors in the literature. However, this approach usually takes a long time before the lymphorrhagia are eventually resolved. Here, a case of chylous ascites that was successfully treated with subcutaneous octreotide, a somatostatin analogue, is reported. By shortening the bowel rest period, this treatment avoids the nutritional and immunological adverse effects. A series of peritoneal equilibrium tests were performed after administration of octreotide and the results showed that octreotide did not alter the peritoneal function in the short term. Therefore, subcutaneous octreotide administration is a safe and effective therapy in peritoneal dialysis patient with chylous ascites.