Bmc Nephrol
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Since October 2010, the combination of a heparin-grafted polyacrilonitrile (AN69ST) membrane with a 0.80 mmol/L citric acid-containing dialysate is routinely used in our centre for intermittent haemodialysis, without systemic anticoagulation, in critically ill patients with increased bleeding risk. The primary outcome of this retrospective cohort study was to assess the development of circuit clotting during these dialysis procedures. Secondly, we assessed the impact of clotting on treatment duration, the incidence rate of coagulation-induced retransfusion failure and the association of patient and dialysis characteristics with the occurrence of clotting. ⋯ Intermittent haemodialysis without systemic anticoagulation combining a heparin-grafted AN69ST dialyzer with a citrate-enriched dialysate favourably compares as to clotting complications with the published outcomes of anticoagulation-free intermittent haemodialysis strategies using saline flushes, heparin-coated dialyzer in combination with regular dialysate or regional citrate anticoagulation with calcium supplemented dialysate. The incidence of circuit clotting in our cohort appears to be higher than previously reported for regional citrate anticoagulation with a calcium-free dialysate.