Case report reveals rapid improvement of gastrointestinal beriberi symptoms following thiamine administration in dialysis patients, underscoring a treatable condition.
Thiamine deficiency is classically linked to malnutrition and chronic alcohol use, but emerging evidence indicates that patients on intermittent hemodialysis (iHD) are also at significant risk. While cardiovascular and neurologic syndromes are well characterized, gastrointestinal (GI) beriberi remains an underrecognized presentation. We describe a 67‐year‐old man on iHD with chronic abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and anorexia refractory to conventional therapy. Workup revealed elevated lactate and a low plasma thiamine level prior to supplementation. Symptoms and elevated lactate resolved rapidly following intravenous thiamine. This case underscores GI beriberi as a treatable cause of chronic GI symptoms in dialysis patients.
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Day et al. (2026) studied this question.
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