Acute renal dysfunction in salmonella gastroenteritis

GOALS: To determine the incidence of renal function deterioration in adult
patients with Salmonella infection. BACKGROUND: Renal impairment has been
described during severe Salmonella infection and is mainly due to shock,
dehydration, or rhabdomyolysis. However, it is unclear whether less severe
Salmonella infection also has an impact on kidney function. STUDY: We
retrospectively reviewed over a 2-year period the data of all hospitalized adult
patients with microbiologically proven gastrointestinal infection. Different
biologic parameters were compared between patients infected with Salmonella and
patients with other gastrointestinal infections. RESULTS: One hundred and seven
patients with positive stool cultures were identified; 44 of them had proven
Salmonella infection. Renal dysfunction, defined as an increase in serum
creatinine above 1.5 mg/dL in men and above 1.3 mg/dL in women, was observed in
16 (36%) patients infected by Salmonella but only in 3 (5%) comparators
(Ppatients affected by Salmonella as compared with other pathogens. Kidney function
recovered in all but 1 patient. CONCLUSIONS: Salmonella gastroenteritis in adults
is frequently accompanied by renal dysfunction that is caused by mechanisms other
than dehydration or rhabdomyolysis.