Background Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) is a growing PD modality but as with other home dialysis methods, the lack of monitoring of patients’ adherence to prescriptions is a limitation with potential negative impact on clinical outcome parameters. Remote patient monitoring (RPM) allowing the clinical team to have access to dialysis data and adjust the treatment may overcome this limitation. The present study sought to determine clinical outcomes associated with RPM use in incident patients on APD therapy. Methods A retrospective cohort study included 360 patients with a mean age of 57 years (diabetes 42.5%) initiating APD between 1 October 2016 and 30 June 2017 in 28 Baxter Renal Care Services (BRCS) units in Colombia. An RPM program was used in 65 (18%) of the patients (APD-RPM cohort), and 295 (82%) were treated with APD without RPM. Hospitalizations and hospital days were recorded over 1 year. Propensity score matching 1:1, yielding 63 individuals in each group, was used to evaluate the association of RPM exposure with numbers of hospitalizations and hospital days. Results After propensity score matching, APD therapy with RPM ( n = 63) compared with APD-without RPM ( n = 63) was associated with significant reductions in hospitalization rate (0.36 fewer hospitalizations per patient-year; incidence rate ratio [IRR] of 0.61 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.39 – 0.95]; p = 0.029) and hospitalization days (6.57 fewer days per patient-year; IRR 0.46 [95% CI 0.23 – 0.92]; p = 0.028). Conclusions The use of RPM in APD patients is associated with lower hospitalization rates and fewer hospitalization days; RPM could constitute a tool for improvement of APD therapy.

Background: Remote monitoring technology that is specifically designed to be integrated into automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) systems gives both patients and their clinical team a powerful tool that can enhance communication, potentially improve adherence to the treatment, optimize fluid balance, and address potential complications of therapy in near real time. Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the implementation and early stages of an APD remote monitoring program as well as some early outcomes associated with this program. Methods: A cross-sectional study in incident and prevalent APD patients older than 18 years, who utilized remote monitoring and was enrolled to Renal Therapy Services Colombia network during the period from January 1 to December 31, 2017. For the analysis, we used descriptive statistics. Results: A program was implemented to provide training in the operation of both the device and the remote monitoring platform. Monitoring indicators were identified for the remote monitoring program to improve the safety and quality of the treatment; these indicators refer to characteristics of the APD prescription, adherence to the APD prescription, and blood pressure control. The adherence to APD treatment was 90.1%. Conclusions: A remote monitoring program for APD patients may be easily and efficiently implemented in health-care settings and may become a useful tool for the continuous improvement of the therapy through the development and monitoring of key clinical indicators.

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> A new generation of hemodialysis (HD) membranes called medium cut-off (MCO) membranes possesses enhanced capacities for middle molecule clearance, which have been associated with adverse outcomes in this population. These improvements could potentially positively impact patient-reported outcomes (PROs). <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of MCO membranes on PROs in a cohort of HD patients in Colombia. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This was a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study of 992 patients from 12 renal clinics in Colombia who were switched from high-flux HD to MCO therapy and observed for 12 months. Changes in Kidney Disease Quality of Life 36-Item Short Form Survey (KDQoL-SF36) domains, Dialysis Symptom Index (DSI), and restless legs syndrome (RLS) 12 months after switching to MCO membranes were compared with time on high-flux membranes. Repeated measures of ANOVA were used to evaluate changes in KDQoL-SF36 scores; severity scoring was used to assess DSI changes over time; Cochran’s Q test was used to evaluate changes in frequency of diagnostic criteria of RLS. <b><i>Results:</i></b> During 12 months of follow-up, 3 of 5 KDQoL-SF36 domains improved compared with baseline: symptoms (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.0001), effects of kidney disease (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.0001), and burden of kidney disease (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001). The proportion of patients diagnosed with RLS significantly decreased from 22.1% at baseline to 10% at 12 months (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.0001). No significant differences in the number of symptoms (DSI, <i>p =</i> 0.1) were observed, although their severity decreased (<i>p</i> = 0.009). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> In conventional HD patients, the expanded clearance of large middle molecules with MCO-HD membranes was associated with higher health-related quality of life scores and a decrease in the prevalence of RLS.

Background: Remote patient monitoring (RPM) programs in automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) allow clinical teams to be aware of many aspects and events of the therapy that occur in the home. The present study evaluated the association between RPM use and APD technique failure. Methods: A retrospective, multicentre, observational cohort study of 558 prevalent adult APD patients included between 1 October 2016 and 30 June 2017 with follow-up until 30 June 2018 at Renal Therapy Services network in Colombia. Patients were divided into two cohorts based on the RPM use: APD-RPM ( n = 148) and APD-without RPM ( n = 410). Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of all patients were summarized descriptively. A propensity score was used to create a pseudo-population in which the baseline covariates were well balanced. The association of RPM with technique failure was estimated adjusting for the competing events death and kidney transplant. Results: Five hundred fifty-eight patients were analyzed. 26.5% had APD-RPM. In the matched sample comprising 148 APD-RPM and 148 APD-without RPM patients, we observed a lower technique failure rate of 0.08 [0.05–0.15] episodes per patient-year in APD-RPM versus 0.18 [0.12–0.26] in APD-without RPM cohort; incidence rate ratio = 0.45 95% confidence interval: [0.22–0.91], p-value = 0.03. Conclusions: The use of an RPM program in APD patients may be associated with a lower technique failure rate. More extensive and interventional studies are needed to confirm its potential benefits and to measure other patient-centered outcomes.

♦ BACKGROUND: Peritonitis is the most important complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD), and early peritonitis rate is predictive of the subsequent course on PD. Our aim was to calculate the early peritonitis rate and to identify characteristics and predisposing factors in a large nationwide PD provider network in Colombia. ♦ METHODS: This was a historical observational cohort study of all adult patients starting PD between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2013, in 49 renal facilities in the Renal Therapy Services in Colombia. We studied the peritonitis rate in the first 90 days of treatment, its causative micro-organisms, its predictors and its variation with time on PD and between individual facilities. ♦ RESULTS: A total of 3,525 patients initiated PD, with 176 episodes of peritonitis during 752 patient-years of follow-up for a rate of 0.23 episodes per patient year equivalent to 1 every 52 months. In 41 of 49 units, the rate was better than 1 per 33 months, and in 45, it was better than 1 per 24 months. Peritonitis rates did not differ with age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or PD modality. We identified high incidence risk periods at 2 to 5 weeks after initiation of PD and again at 10 to 12 weeks. ♦ CONCLUSION: An excellent peritonitis rate was achieved across a large nationwide network. This occurred in the context of high nationwide PD utilization and despite high rates of socioeconomic deprivation. We propose that a key factor in achieving this was a standardized approach to management of patients.

Graphical abstract

Expanded hemodialysis (HDx) provides increased clearance of conventional and large middle molecules through innovative medium cutoff (MCO) membranes. However, there is a paucity of real‐world data regarding the benefits and safety of HDx. This large observational study evaluated outcomes among patients in Colombia undergoing HDx at a extended dialysis clinical services provider. This was a prospective single cohort study of prevalent patients who were treated with HDx; baseline information was collected from the most recent data before patients were started on HDx. Patients were followed prospectively for 1 year for changes in serum albumin and other laboratory parameters compared with the baseline. Survival, hospitalization and safety were assessed from the start of HDx. A total of 1000 patients were invited to enroll; 992 patients met the inclusion criteria for data analysis and 638 patients completed the year of follow‐up. Seventy‐four (8%) patients died during 866 patient‐years (PY) of follow‐up; the mortality rate was 8.54 deaths/100 PY (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.8‐10.7). There were 673 hospitalization events with a rate of 0.79 events/PY (95% CI, 0.73‐0.85) with 6.91 hospital days/PY (95% CI, 6.74‐7.09). The observed variability from baseline and maximum average change in mean serum albumin levels were −1.8% and −3.5%, respectively. No adverse events were related to the MCO membrane. HDx using an MCO membrane maintains stable serum albumin levels and is safe in terms of nonoccurrence of dialyzer related adverse events.

To examine new evidence linking expanded hemodialysis (HDx) using a medium cut-off (MCO) membrane with hospitalizations, hospital days, medication use, costs, and patient utility. This retrospective study utilized data from Renal Care Services medical records database in Colombia from 2017 to 2019.Clinics included had switched all patients from high flux hemodialysis (HD HF) to HDx and had at least a year of data on HD HF and HDx. Data included demographic characteristics, comorbidities, years on dialysis, hospitalizations, medication use, and quality of life measured by the 36 item and Short Form versions of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life survey at the start of HDx, and 1 year after HDx, which were mapped to EQ-5D utilities. Generalized linear models were run on the outcomes of interest with an indicator for being on HDx. Annual cost estimates were also constructed. The study included 81 patients. HDx was significantly associated with lower dosing of erythropoietin stimulating agents, iron, hypertension medications, and insulin. HDx was also significantly associated with lower hospital days per year (5.94 on HD vs. 4.41 on HDx) although not with the number of hospitalizations. Estimates of annual hospitalization costs were 23.9% lower using HDx and patient utilities did not appear to decline. HDx was statistically significantly associated with reduced hospitalization days and lower medication dosages. Furthermore, this preliminary analysis suggested potential for HDx being a dominant strategy in terms of costs and utility and should motivate future work with larger samples and better controls.