title: Time on dialysis.
abstract: This article discusses the following three aspects of dialysis that are related primarily in that they deal with time (ie, the duration of dialysis treatments): (1) Which is better: long or short daily dialysis? (2) Does everyone need long dialysis? (3) How does time affect the measurement of the dialysis dose? As a working definition, short implies the least time necessary to provide equilibrated Kt/V or double-pool Kt/V (eKt/V) of 1.0 and remove intradialytic weight gain without symptoms. This article makes the following statements regarding time on dialysis: (1) The duration of the dialysis treatment for daily dialysis has different effects on the removal of small and large molecules. (2) Longer treatments are definitely indicated for some patients with poor compensation for rapid ultrafiltration. (3) Short treatments with high rates of clearance/volume are associated with more postdialysis urea rebond. It is therefore an advantage to express doses as equilibrated Kt/V.
authors.affiliation: Renal Research Institute, New York, NY, USA. nwlevin@msn.com
authors.forename: N W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Levin
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis / Q000379:methods*; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors