Short-and long-term outcomes of sustained low efficiency dialysis vs continuous renal replacement therapy in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury

• Published in: Journal of critical care 2021-04, Vol.62, p.76-81
• Main Authors: Harvey, Andrea K., Burns, Karen E.A., McArthur, Eric, Adhikari, Neill K.J., Li, Daniel, Kitchlu, Abhijat, Meraz-Munõz, Alejandro, Garg, Amit X., Nash, Danielle M., Perez-Sanchez, Adic, Beaubien-Souligny, William, Bagshaw, Sean M., Friedrich, Jan O., Silver, Samuel A., Wald, Ron
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute kidney injury; Blood pressure; Comorbidity; Continuous renal replacement therapy; Creatinine; Datasets; Health care; Hemodialysis; Hospitals; Intensive care; Kidneys; Mortality; Patients; Renal replacement therapy; Sustained low efficiency dialysis; Urine; Values; Ventilators
• ISSN: 0883-9441; 1557-8615
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2020.11.003

Sustained low efficiency dialysis (SLED) has emerged as an alternative to continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) for the treatment of acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically ill patients. However, there is limited information on the short- and long-term outcomes of SLED compared to CRRT. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with AKI who commenced either SLED or CRRT in ICUs at a tertiary care hospital in Toronto, Canada. The primary outcome was 90-day all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included mortality at one year, and dialysis dependence at 90 days and one year. All outcomes were ascertained by linkage to provincial datasets. We identified 284 patients, of whom 95 and 189 commenced SLED and CRRT, respectively. Compared to SLED recipients, more CRRT recipients were mechanically ventilated (96% vs 86%, p = 0.002) and receiving vasopressors (94% vs 84%, p = 0.01) at the time of RRT initiation. At 90 days following RRT initiation, 52 (55%) and 126 (67%) SLED and CRRT recipients, respectively, died (adjusted risk ratio (RR) 0.91, 95% CI 0.75–1.11). There was no inter-modality difference in time to death through 90 days (adjusted hazard ratio 0.90, 95% CI 0.64–1.27). Among patients surviving to Day 90, a higher proportion of SLED recipients remained RRT dependent (10 (23%) vs 6 (10%) CRRT recipients, adjusted RR 2.82, 95% CI 1.02–7.81). At one year, there was no difference in mortality or dialysis dependence. Among critically ill patients with acute kidney injury, mortality at 90 days and one year was not different among patients initiating SLED as compared to CRRT. •This retrospective cohort study of 284 critically ill patients with acute kidney injury compared outcomes among those initiating therapy with SLED or CRRT.•90-day all-cause mortality, adjusted for relevant confounders, did not differ between recipients of sustained low efficiency dialysis and continuous renal replacement therapy.•The receipt of SLED was associated with a higher risk of persistent dialysis dependence at 90 days.