2017 Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages 63-67
The circuits used in CRRT are exchanged every 48 hours at our hospital. During this 48-hour period, circuit obstruction is sporadically observed in some cases. Therefore, the hemofilter lifetime, the rate of achieving 48-hour CRRT, the difference between the arterial and venous pressures in a circuit, and the reasons for circuit exchange were compared between two types of hemofilters differing in membrane material and size (a polysulfone [PS] membrane hemofilter and a large surface area polymethyl methacrylate [PMMA] membrane hemofilter). The results indicated that the rate of achieving 48-hour CRRT was significantly higher with PS (36.7%) than with PMMA (68.7%) (p=0.00064). Moreover, blood clot formation in the chambers of the blood circuits, not hemofilter clotting, accounted for half of all circuit exchanges. This suggested that clot formation in CRRT circuits is affected not only by the performance of hemofilters but also by the biocompatibility of the membrane materials. Furthermore, this study found that large surface area PMMA membrane hemofilters are superior to PS membrane hemofilters in terms of suitability for use in CRRT not only for patients with sepsis but also for all other cases.
