[Management of color-Doppler imaging in dialysis patients]

In recent decades, the survival of dialysis patients has gradually increased thanks to the evolution of dialysis techniques and the availability of new drug therapies. These elements have led to an increased incidence of a series of dialysis-related diseases that might compromise the role of dialysis rehabilitation: vascular disease, skeletal muscle disease, infectious disease, cystic kidney disease and cancer. The nephrologist is therefore in charge of a patient group with complex characteristics including the presence of indwelling vascular and/or peritoneal catheters, conditions secondary to chronic renal failure (hyperparathyroidism, anemia, amyloid disease, etc.) and superimposed disorders due to old age (cardiac and respiratory failure, cancer, type 2 diabetes mellitus, etc.). Early clinical and organizational management of such patients is essential in a modern and ''economic'' vision of nephrology. The direct provision of ultrasound services by the nephrologist responds to these requirements. A minimum level of expertise in diagnostic ultrasonography of the urinary tract and dialysis access should be part of the nephrologist's cultural heritage, acquired through theoretical and practical training programs validated by scientific societies, especially for those who choose to specialize in these procedures and become experts in imaging or interventional ultrasonography.