Haemodialysing babies weighing <8 kg with the newcastle infant dialysis and ultrafiltration system (Nidus): comparison with peritoneal and conventional haemodialysis

Background To compare the efficacy of the Newcastle infant dialysis and ultrafiltration system (Nidus) with peritoneal dialysis (PD) and conventional haemodialysis (HD) in infants weighing Methods We compared the urea, creatinine and phosphate clearances, the ultrafiltration precision, and the safety of the Nidus machine with PD in 7 piglets weighing 1-8 kg, in a planned randomised cross-over trial in babies, and in babies for whom no other therapy existed, some of whom later graduated to conventional HD. Results Two babies entered the randomised trial; 1 recovered rapidly on PD, the other remained on the Nidus as PD failed. Additionally, 9 babies were treated on the Nidus on humanitarian grounds: 3 because of failed PD, and 3 with permanent kidney failure later converted to conventional HD. We haemodialysed 10 babies weighing between 1.8 and 5.9 kg for 2,475 h during 354 Nidus sessions without any clinically important incidents, and without detectable haemolysis. Single-lumen vascular access was used with no blood priming of circuits. The urea, creatinine and phosphate clearances using the Nidus were around 1.5 to 2.0 ml/min in piglets and babies, and were consistently higher than PD clearances, which ranged from about 0.2 to 0.8 ml/min (p≤0.0002 for each chemical). Ultrafiltration was achieved to microlitre precision by the Nidus, but varied widely with PD. Fluid removal using conventional HD was imprecise and resulted in some hypovolaemic episodes requiring correction. Conclusion The Nidus can provide HD in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and outpatient intermittent HD without blood priming for babies weighing Keywords Infant * Acute renal failure * Chronic renal failure * Renal replacement therapy
Introduction Dialysing small babies is challenging for many reasons. Vascular access for haemodialysis (HD) modalities is problematic as the size of the central venous line (CVL) required for adequate blood [...]