[Improved survival rate of postoperative renal failure caused by high volume hemofiltration]

Continuous arteriovenous hemofiltration is the treatment of choice for postoperative acute renal failure (ARF). The clinical value of two different treatment modalities (spontaneous vs. pump-driven hemofiltration PDHF) were compared in two groups of patients with postoperative ARF. There were no differences in both groups regarding age, duration of treatment, severity of illness or cause of renal failure. The survival rate of patients treated with PDHF was significantly higher (29.4 vs. 12.5%). PDHF also led to a significantly larger daily ultrafiltrate volume (15.6 +/- 1.9 vs. 7.0 +/- 0.4 l/d, p less than 0.05). The accelerated elimination of toxic mediators through the filtration membrane in high-volume filtration using a pump system (PDHF) may have been responsible for the improved survival rate.