Evaluation of treatment time in continuous renal replacement therapy

Abstract

The dosage of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is usually determined under the assumption that CRRT will be performed for 24 hr per day. However, CRRT frequently needs to be halted for several reasons in clinical settings. This study is aimed at evaluation of the actual treatment time of CRRT per day and the reasons for stopping CRRT in ICU. Seventy-two patients who needed CRRT in the ICU of Tokyo University Hospital were analyzed retrospectively. Each patient was treated using CRRT for 142.5±108.8 hr, whereas CRRT was halted for 4.72 ±3.05 hr. Reasons for stopping were the following: routine filter change (83%), medical procedure (7%), change access (3%), surgical procedure (1%), and miscellaneous other reasons (5%). Of note, routine filter changes required a shorter time (21.5±23.4 min) than other reasons. Although CRRT was held for less than 5% of the total treatment time in this study, recognizing the actual treatment time will enable determination of the optimal CRRT dosage prescription. Further studies must be undertaken to determine whether the CRRT stopping time has a meaningful impact on CRRT efficacy.