Chapter 41

Dialysis Dose and Adequacy for Hemodialysis

Brendan Smyth

Brendan Smyth

Department of Renal Medicine, St George Hospital, Kogarah, Australia

NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia

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Carmel M Hawley

Carmel M Hawley

Department of Nephrology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

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Meg Jardine

Meg Jardine

NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia

Department of Nephrology, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Australia

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First published: 18 November 2022

Summary

Dialysis is a laborious and expensive process for both patients and healthcare providers. This chapter considers dialysis adequacy as a multidimensional concept, incorporating a comprehensive assessment of the patient's needs, symptoms, and goals, and within which minimum urea-clearance standards provide a useful, but far from definitive, benchmark. The chapter provides assessment of level of evidence for intensity of hemodialysis therapy. Dialysis therapy must be tailored to fit the patient. The chapter presents an indication of the information required to facilitate an adequacy assessment. It provides an introduction to principles of urea kinetic modeling as this remains a useful component of the adequacy assessment. Longer treatment times are associated with longer life expectancy. The evidence base for dialysis dosing is limited, with no high-quality systematic reviews published that include all recent studies. Dialysis adequacy must be assessed on an individual basis with patient needs being defined in line with patient goals and circumstances.

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