More frequent hemodialysis: back to the future?

Adv Chronic Kidney Dis. 2007 Jul;14(3):e1-9. doi: 10.1053/j.ackd.2007.04.006.

Abstract

An increase in the length of the standard in-center hemodialysis treatment by 30 to 45 minutes per session was not associated with an improvement in mortality in long-term hemodialysis patients enrolled in the HEMO study. Testing the possibility that delivering still higher doses of hemodialysis may have a beneficial effect on patient outcomes will require the use of more frequent hemodialysis or a much longer duration for each dialysis session. "Short-daily hemodialysis," actually 6 times per week hemodialysis for 1.5 to 3 hours per session, can provide some increase in small molecule clearance as measured by urea kinetics. "Long nocturnal daily hemodialysis," actually 6 times per week hemodialysis for 6 to 8 hours per session, provides a significant increase in both small-molecular-weight and large-molecular-weight clearance and often alleviates the need to take phosphate binders. The National Institutes of Health is sponsoring 2 clinical trials via the Frequent Hemodialysis Network to determine the impact of these 2 modalities on intermediate outcomes, compared with standard 3-times-per-week hemodialysis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Appointments and Schedules
  • Disease Progression
  • Female
  • Hemodialysis, Home / methods
  • Hemodialysis, Home / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Kidney Failure, Chronic / diagnosis
  • Kidney Failure, Chronic / therapy*
  • Male
  • Quality of Life*
  • Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
  • Renal Dialysis / methods
  • Renal Dialysis / statistics & numerical data*
  • Risk Assessment
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Survival Analysis
  • Treatment Outcome