A higher dialysis dose and special dialysis filters provide no additional benefit to ESRD patients; the minimum dialysis dose recommended by current treatment guidelines is adequate. That’s the finding of the first major National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical trial for dialysis in more than 20 years. The study was conducted primarily because of the high death rates and frequent hospitalizations of hemodialysis patients.
Dr. Garabed Eknoyan, the study’s lead investigator, announced that the study indicated that hemodialysis patients who received a higher dialysis dose than the minimum recommended dose or who used high-flux dialysis filters neither lived longer nor stayed out of the hospital longer than hemodialysis patients who received the minimum recommended dialysis dose.
Appearing to contradict the conclusions of the study’s researchers are two interesting findings:
- Higher dialysis doses appeared to reduce the risk of death and hospitalization among women.
- High-flux dialysis filters appeared to reduce the risk of death among patients who had been on hemodialysis for more than 3.5 years.
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