Low Blood Pressure Caused by Dialysis

Dialysis is one of the important treatment for end stage renal failure. Thorough dialysis can not only improve patients’s life quality but also can prolong their life span. However there are many complications during dialysis which severely affect the the curative effects of dialysis and pose great threaten to their life.

Low blood pressure is the common complication during dialysis especially among those that have taken long time dialysis. Low blood pressure usually indicates poor prognosis, therefore timely measures should be taken.

Careful analysis of underlying causes, personalized dialysis prescriptions and proper intake of medicines can greatly reduce the risk of low blood pressure in dialysis.

What are the causes of low blood pressure in dialysis?

1. Volume-related factors: too fast ultrafiltration, too low dry body weight, low sodium concentration of the dialysate.

2. Vasoconstriction dysfunction: high temperature of dialysate, anti-hypertensive medicines or foods before dialysis, anemia, dysneuria or acetate dialysis.

3. Heart problems: diastolic dysfunction, arrhythmia, heart ischemia, cardiac tamponade, myocardial infarction, etc.

4. Other rare reasons: bleeding, hemolysis, air embolism, dialyser reaction, sepsis, etc.

Personalized dialysis prescription

This needs to be consulted with your doctor according to your current specific illness and physical conditions so as to set proper dry weight, dialysate, ultrafiltration style and temperature.

Medicines

Here i introduce one medicine---medodrine. One one hand, It can improve neurologic functions especially the sympathetic nerve functions so as to cope with low blood pressure. On the other hand, it can contract arteries and veins so as to increase blood pressure. What is more, it has no effects on the heart and will not increase the heart beat.

It is orally intake and can be absorbed quickly. It can be discharged by the kidneys and can also be removed outside with dialysis, therefore it needs to be supplied.

It has few side effects and sometimes can cause skin itching, nausea, trembling, gastrointestinal discomforts, etc. But patients can bear them.