FREQUENCY OF ACUTE COMPLICATIONS OF HEMODIALYSIS IN ADULT AGE GROUP AT A TERTIARY CARE CENTER

Complications of Hemodialysis

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of acute complications of hemodialysis in adult age group at a tertiary care
centre.
Study Design: Descriptive study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Medicine, Combined Military Hospital Lahore, from Apr 2012 to Oct
2012.
Patients and Methods: We included 100 consecutive patients of chronic kidney disease on hemodialysis with
age more than 12 years. Personal profile, comorbidities, intravenous access type and duration, hemodialysis
parameters were recorded for each patient. Monitoring of blood pressure, temperature, pulse and history of
palpitations, headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps, fever, shivering, chest-pain, bleeding, fits, itching was
recorded before and up till one hour post hemodialysis session.
Results: In our study population fever was the commonest complication with frequency of 37%, followed by
nausea and vomiting in 36%, muscle cramps in 28%, hypotension in 24%, headache in 23%, shivering in 22%,
chest Pain in 15%, itching in 14%, hypertension in 10%, cardiac arrhythmias in 8%, hemorrhage in 7% and
Seizures in 7% of patients.
Conclusion: Infection related complications were more common in our set up as compared to international
statistics which depicts that we should improve our antiseptic techniques.