Assessment of Canine Pancreas-Specific Lipase and Outcomes in Dogs with Hemodialysis-Dependent Acute Kidney Injury.

BACKGROUND: Renal replacement therapies can be life-saving for dogs with severe acute kidney injury (AKI), however, comorbidities including pancreatitis might affect outcome.

HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of pancreas-specific lipase (Spec cPL) measurements consistent with pancreatitis (≥400 μg/L) in dogs undergoing intermittent hemodialysis (IHD) for treatment of AKI and to determine whether there were associations between 30-days outcomes and Spec cPL measurements.

ANIMALS: Fifty-three client-owned dogs presented to teaching hospitals between November 2008 and September 2016 that underwent IHD.

METHODS: Retrospective medical record review from dogs that received IHD for management of AKI and also had a Spec cPL measurement. Association between survival, dialysis-dependency, and Spec cPL measurements was assessed.

RESULTS: Forty of 53 (76%) dogs were alive at 30-days and 33/53(62%) had a Spec cPL result ≥400 μg/L. Spec cPL was not significantly different either between surviving (635.5 μg/L, range 29-1,001) and nonsurviving dogs (860 μg/L, range 56-1,001; P = 0.75) or between dialysis-dependent (1,001 μg/L, range 177-1,001) and nondialysis-dependent dogs (520 μg/L, range 29-1,001; P = 0.08). Spec cPL ≥400 μg/L was not significantly associated either with survival (P = 0.74) or dialysis-dependency (P = 0.33).

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Results revealed a high prevalence of Spec cPL ≥400 μg/L in dogs with AKI treated with IHD. No significant associations between Spec cPL and survival or dialysis-dependency in dogs with AKI at 30 days were identified in the current study, however, the latter could be due to lack of power in this study.