Cardiovascular Surgery Raises Risk Of Dialysis

Date: Jun-26-2012According to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), the number of patients needing acute dialysis after cardiac and vascular surgery has tripled since 1995.

Acute kidney injury is a serious complication after surgery and can result in compromised quality of life for patients who survive as well as death.

In order to examine trends in acute dialysis, researchers reviewed data on 552,672 patients in Ontario who underwent elective major surgery between 1995 and 2009.

The researchers found that 2,231 of the 552,672 patients required acute dialysis within 14 days after surgery, and that nearly half of these patients (937) died within three months after surgery.

Furthermore, they found that 352 of the 1,294 patients who survived needed long-term dialysis. The incidence of acute dialysis increased from 0.2% in 1995 to 0.6% in 2009.

Dr. Amit Garg, Western University, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Toronto, explained:

"This study shows an important increase in the complication of severe acute kidney injury treated with dialysis after cardiac and vascular surgeries. Outcomes for patients treated with acute dialysis after surgery remain poor."

Dr. Nausheen Siddiqui, University of Toronto, said:

"Our results should prompt renewed efforts to develop and test interventions to prevent severe acute kidney injury and to attenuate the high burden of death and end-stage renal disease after such injury has occurred."

Written By Grace Rattue

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