Prevalence of Respiratory Manifestations in Chronic Kidney Diseases; A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study in A Tertiary Care Hospital of Nepal

Introduction: Chronic kidney diseases affect patients with multiple respiratory complications by varied etiopathogenesis adversely affecting the outcome in them. The aim of the study is to find out the respiratory manifestations among patients with chronic kidney disease. Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital from January 2019 to March 2019 after ethical approval. One hundred and two patients with established chronic kidney diseases being treated in a tertiary hospital for a month were included for the study. Clinical evaluation and relevant investigations; chest x ray, pleural fluid analysis, sputum analysis, echocardiography, biochemical investigations and hematological investigations were done to assess the respiratory manifestations of the patients. Results: Pulmonary edema 41 (24.84%) was the most common manifestation followed by pleural effusion 18 (10.9%). Pleural effusions were predominantly bilateral and transudative type. Pneumonia 17 (10.3%) was predominantly lobar pneumonia. Sixteen (9.7%) of the patients were screened positive for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Pulmonary tuberculosis was present in 9 (5.45%) patients. Conclusions: Varieties of respiratory complications can present in varied spectrum in patients with chronic kidney diseases and this carries adverse outcome to patient management as well as affects the quality of life of the patient and their family.