Circuit lifespan during continuous renal replacement therapy for combined liver and kidney failure

Circuit Survival during Continuous Venovenous Hemodialysis versus Continuous Venovenous Hemofiltration

“…Clotting of CRRT circuits remains a significant weakness of this therapy, making systemic or regional circuit anticoagulation very common. However, despite such anticoagulation, early circuit clotting remains frequent, and anticoagulation may not be possible in patients with severe liver failure and other conditions that may increase the risk of bleeding [6,7].…”

A retrospective review of fluid balance control in CRRT

“…We observed a similar lifespan as reported by others from previous studies conducted in the same unit, 22 and from authors at other centres investigating the effectiveness of CRRT. 23,24 The choice of anticoagulation strategy is an important consideration for extending circuit lifespan and in reducing the number of treatment interruptions caused by premature clotting. Clotting of the circuit was found to be the most common cause of treatment interruptions (45%) and similar to that reported by others.…”

What is this chocolate milk in my circuit? A cause of acute clotting of a continuous renal replacement circuit: Answers

“…Factors influencing the patency of CRRT circuits include catheter size and location, choice of anticoagulant, blood flow and replacement fluid flow rates, ultrafiltration rates (filtration fraction), hematocrit, platelet count, blood product transfusion, as well as levels of sedation and paralysis of patients in the ICU [6–8]. Clogging of the hollow fibers of the dialysis filters occurs due to deposition of protein and red cells on the membrane [9].…”