Background: The insidious onset and occult characteristic of psoas abscess can cause diagnostic delays, resulting in high mortality and morbidity rates. Here, we investigated the characteristics of psoas abscess in hemodialysis patients.
Methods: This study was carried out in eight patients with psoas abscess who were admitted in our hospital. The clinical data were retrospectively collected.
Results: The frequency of polycystic kidney disease as the primary cause of end-stage kidney disease was significantly higher in the hemodialysis patients with psoas abscess (25.0%) than in prevalent Japanese hemodialysis patients (3.4%, P = 0.028). All patients had a preceding infection (discitis in two, blood access-related infections in two, colitis in two, infection of a hematoma in the kidney in one, and endocarditis in one). Seven patients survived, while the remaining one patient died.
Conclusion: Psoas abscess could be a complication of discitis, blood access infection and colitis in hemodialysis patients. The frequency of polycystic kidney disease as the primary cause of ESKD was significantly higher in the hemodialysis patients with psoas abscess than in prevalent Japanese hemodialysis patients. We should consider psoas abscess as a possibility in hemodialysis patients with infection of unknown cause, especially in patients with polycystic kidney disease.