Calcitriol injection for the management of renal osteodystrophy

The introduction of synthetically produced calcitriol in the early 1970s was an important contribution to the prevention and treatment of renal bone disease. However, despite the efficacy and the availability of oral calcitriol many dialysis patients continued to develop secondary hyperparathyroidism (Norris, 1991). Effective treatment was often impossible in patients with osteitis fibrosa because even low oral doses of calcitriol could cause hypercalcemia (Andress, Norris, Coburn, Slatopolsky, & Sherrad, 1989). From 1981 to the present, numerous studies have been conducted that have demonstrated intravenous calcitriol as being more effective and having several advantages over the oral route of administration, particularly in patients with poor compliance and those with a tendency to develop hypercalcemia.