Persistence of gastric hypoacidity in uraemic patients after renal transplantation.

To evaluate the effect of renal transplantation on the frequent gastric hypoacidity encountered among uraemic patients, 84 patients (19 with chronic renal failure receiving dietary treatment, 29 receiving regular dialysis treatment, and 36 with a well-functioning renal transplant) were studied for their gastric acid secretory capacity. The mean duration of preoperative dialysis treatment of the dialysed patients was 13.7 months, and the mean length of postoperative follow-up study of the transplant patients was 10.1 months. The mean gastric acid secretory capacity of all three subgroups of renal patients was similar, and all these means fell within the reported reference interval of healthy controls. Gastric hypoacidity was observed in 26% of the non-dialysed and in 17% of the dialysed patients but also in 28% of the patients with a well-functioning renal graft. Thus uraemia seems to result in gastric hypoacidity, which tends to persist for over 10 months after normalization of renal function through transplantation.