Causes of unplanned hemodialysis initiation

Half of patients starting chronic hemodialysis used a transient vascular catheter as a vascular access (unplanned initiation). An objective of the Quality Management Group of the Spanish Society of Nephrology is to achieve that 80% of the patients starting hemodialysis do it with an arteriovenous fistula. We want to review the causes of non-planned hemodialysis nowadays. In 2010, 43 patients had started chronic hemodialysis in the Hospital Ramón y Cajal in Madrid (Spain). Mean age was 61 years, 79% were men, the most frequent cause of chronic renal disease was the diabetes (23%) and Charlson Comorbidity Index was 6.3 ± 2.6. The unplanned hemodialysis occurred in 20 patients (47%), without any differences with the 23 patients who began planned hemodialysis, in none of the clinical or demographic parameters analyzed. The main cause of unplanned hemodialysis was the acute exacerbation of chronic kidney disease stage 3 or 4, previously stable, secondary to an unforeseeable intercurrent process (8 patients, 40% of the cases). One patient began after a non-recovery acute renal failure and in other 6 patients, the reason of unplanned hemodialysis initiation was not attributable to the operation Health System (in 3 cases unknown kidney chronic disease and in the other 3 cases it was patient´s responsibility). Only in 5 cases (25%), the cause could be corrigible. Most causes of unplanned hemodialysis does not come from the healthcare organization and therefore not easy to resolve it. Consequently, the objective of the Quality Group will be difficult to be achieved.