A meta-analysis of sodium profiling techniques and the impact on intradialytic hypotension

Introduction Hemodialysis has improved in recent years, however, despite such improvements, intra-dialytic hypotensive episodes still persist which can lead to a reduction in the overall effectiveness of the treatment. Profiling sodium levels during dialysis can improve vascular refilling and therefore may prevent hypotensive events. A number of profiling methods exist and this meta-analysis set out to examine the effectiveness of these methods. Methods To assess the effectiveness of hemodialysis sodium profiling techniques. A review and meta-analysis analytical framework was used. A search was conducted using Medline, Embase and CINAHL, Scopus and Web of Knowledge between 1946 and 2014 of published English-language peer reviewed randomized control studies. In total 10 articles were retrieved and included in the review. All data was abstracted with a standardized data collection form. Stata 11.2 (Stata Corp) was used to analyse the data. Actual numbers of hypotensive events were pooled between studies. Analysis of subgroups was performed on sodium profile type. The data were further investigated using meta-regression. Publication bias was also tested. Findings Stepwise profiling was shown to be statistically significantly effective in reducing intradialytic episodes. Results demonstrated that linear sodium profiling was not effective in reducing hypotensive events during dialysis. Discussion This review has shown that using stepwise profiling is more effective at reducing intra-dialytic symptoms than other profiling methods. There was no evidence that linear profiling method was any more effective than conventional dialysis and in fact the results showed the reverse.