To Feed or Not to Feed? During Hemodialysis Session

Abstract

Introduction: Patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) like to eat during HD sessions. To prevent coronavirus infection, health authorities recommended restriction of taking food and fluids. In this multicenter retrospective chart review study, we aimed to confirm the relationship between oral intake and intradialytic complications using the date before and after the restriction in a relatively large HD population. Methods: Data of a total of 190 (47% female) patients with prevalent HD during the 3 months before and 3 months after the restriction of oral intake during HD session were collected. In patients who received HD three times a week, data on blood biochemicals and clinical parameters taken routinely at the first week of each month were recorded from the dialysis session files. Differences between the means for both periods were evaluated using the χ² test for categorical variables and Student’s t-test for continuous variables; p<0.05 was considered significant between groups. Results: The mean age was 66±11.3 (23-91) years. Of the patients, 53% had diabetes mellitus, receiving HD treatment for 65.6±55.7 months. Rates of intradialytic hypotension (IDH) and muscle cramps decreased significantly (0.075% vs 0.043%, p<0.001; 0.016% vs 0.008%, p<0.05, respectively), whereas no changes in the hypoglycemia rate were noted. Conclusion: IDH and muscle cramps mostly attributed to splanchnic vasodilation-related digestion may be prevented by restriction of food intake during HD sessions.

Keywords

• intradialytic hypotension
• hemodialysis
• muscle cramps