Safety and feasibility of transcranial direct current stimulation in end-stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis: an exploratory study

Abstract

Introduction: Patients with end-stage renal disease often face a challenging routine of hemodialysis, dietary restrictions, and multiple medications, which can affect their hemodynamic function. Home-based, safe, and nonpharmacological approaches such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) should be combined with conventional treatment. Objective: To assess the safety and feasibility of tDCS on blood pressure and heart rate in patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing hemodialysis. Method: This is a parallel, randomized, sham-controlled trial. Patients undergoing hemodialysis for more than three months were included. The patients received ten non-consecutive 2mA tDCS sessions on the primary motor cortex . Each session lasted 20 minutes. At baseline and after each of the ten sessions, blood pressure and heart rate of the patients were measured hourly for four hours. Results: Thirty patients were randomized to the active or sham group. The mean difference between the groups was calculated as the mean value of the sham group minus the mean value of the active group. Despite there were no statistical changes for all outcomes considering all 10 sessions, we found differences between groups for systolic –10.93 (–29.1;7.2), diastolic –3.63 (–12.4; 5.1), and mean blood pressure –6.0 (–16.3; 4.2) and hear rate 2.26 (–2.5; 7.1). No serious adverse events were found. The active group showed higher blood pressure values at all points, while heart rate was lower in the active group. Conclusion: tDCS is safe and feasible for patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing hemodialysis. Future studies should investigate whether tDCS could potentially induce a hypotensive protective effect during hemodialysis.