Introduction:

One of the main objectives of the haemodialysis patient is to achieve adequate dialysis. Many authors defend the dialysis dose as a marker for adequate dialysis. The literature refers to a lower dialysis dose in patients with a permanent catheter.

Objective:

To evaluate the reached dialysis dose by the patient according to the type of vascular access.

Material and Method:

Prospective descriptive study in patients in haemodialysis program, who were dialyzed at least 1 month, through the same permanent vascular access.

The dialysis dose was assessed by Kt and Kt/V. Kt data, measured by the monitor, were collected by ionic dialysance in all sessions of the study period. Kt was considered adequate if 40-45L were reached in women or 45-50L in men, and as an optimum, if larger numbers were reached. The Kt/V was calculated using the Daugirdas' 2nd generation formula, considering it adequate if =1.3.

Results:

Forty-five patients with a mean age of 66.78 ± 15.86 years were studied. Arteriovenous Fistula (AVF) was used in 31% of haemodialysis seasons. Patients with AVF reached a Kt of 49.68L versus 47.6L of those with Permanent Central Venous Catheter (P-CVC). Kt/V was 1.56 for patients with AVF and 1.55 for those with P-CVC, although without statistically significant differences. Kt/V was adequate in 78.6% of those with AVF and 77.4% of patients with P-CVC.

Conclusions:

According to our data, there is no difference in the reached dialysis dose according to the type of vascular access employed.