Continuous and intermittent renal replacement therapies for patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) are associated with similar outcomes, data show.
Robert L. Lins, MD, of Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen Stuivenberg, Antwerp, Belgium, and collaborators randomized 316 AKI patients (mean age 66 years) to receive either continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) or intermittent renal replacement therapy (IRRT).
The 172 CRRT recipients and the 144 IRRT recipients had a similar mortality rate (58% and 62.5%, respectively), even after controlling for disease severity, according to a report in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation (2009;24:512-518). Additionally, investigators observed no difference between the CRRT and IRRT groups in duration of ICU stay (18.7 and 17.2 days, respectively) or hospital stay (36.8 and 31.4 days).
Continue Reading
Among survivors, both groups had similar renal recovery at hospital discharge. The researchers observed an estimated glomerular filtration rate of less than 15 mL/min/1.73 m2 in 17% and 25% of CRRT and IRRT recipients, respectively.
“Since evidence is growing about the comparable outcome for both modalities, consensus is also growing to merely consider the different treatment options as complementary,” the authors concluded.
