Dialysis-Dependent Patients

Definition

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined by the National Kidney Foundation as either kidney damage (defined as abnormalities of either imaging studies or laboratory values) or a decrease in glomerular filtration rate to less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m ² and goes often unnoticed in the early stages. Urine albumin spot checks often serve as a marker for kidney damage from which an albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) is calculated. The different stages of CKD can be found in Table 6.1 .

In 2012, approximately 637,000 patients were affected by end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States, with an estimated incidence of about 353 per 1 million persons (which ranges by 66% across the different regions in the United States) and are slightly declining since 2009 and a prevalence of 1943 per 1 million (ranging across regions by 33%, which represents a slight increase from 2011). The prevalence rate for African Americans is about 4 times higher compared with Caucasians, and Hispanics have a 60% higher prevalence rate than non-Hispanics. Although the incidence rates have been stable for most age groups, they decreased dramatically in the older age groups of greater than 65, which, combined with the increase in prevalence in all age groups, especially the population over 65 (by 30%–50%), suggests longer survival in ESRD patients. About 45% of patients who start hemodialysis have diabetes listed as primary diagnosis, followed by hypertension in 30% and glomerulonephritis in 7%. The remainder is made up by the more rare diseases such as polycystic kidney disease, immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgM nephropathies, systemic lupus erythematosus, Wegener granulomatosis, multiple myeloma, amyloidosis, and AIDS nephropathy, just to name a few. These patients tend to be younger and are less likely to present with the typical comorbidities of the dialysis patient. In 2012 approximately 100,000 patients initiated treatment for ESRD with hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis, and 2800 patients received preemptive renal transplantation. Chronic dialysis is usually required when glomerular filtration rate (GFR) falls below 20 mL/min. It is indicated for volume overload refractory to diuretic therapy, severe metabolic acidosis, hyperkalemia, seizures, or other neurologic symptoms, as well as pericarditis, and is usually started when the blood urea nitrogen exceeds 100 mg/mL or creatinine approaches 10 mg/dL. Regardless of the cause, ESRD results in abnormalities in virtually all organ systems and therefore has important implications for patients undergoing surgery ( Box 6.1 ). The abnormalities result from both a failure to excrete urea and other end products of metabolism and a loss of metabolic and endocrine functions normally performed by the kidney.