Continuous renal replacement therapy as a treatment of selected acute intoxications

The methods of extracorporeal elimination remain a particularly useful therapy of selected, most severe intoxications caused by drugs and other chemical substances. The hemodialysis (HD) is the most commonly used therapy, which results from the widest availability of this method. However, due to the gradual spread of modern continuous dialysis techniques, continuous veno-venous hemodialysis (CVVHD) in particular creates a new opportunity of treatment of severe intoxications - especially in patients with cardiovascular complications. The review of literature dealing with the experience in using continuous methods of treatment of selected severe intoxications is presented in the article. Taking into account a lack of analyses assessing the efficacy of different toxicological methods used in large populations of patients, the experiences are mainly based on individual case reports. The presented data indicate that CVVHD may be treated as the preferred method of treatment of severe intoxications in hemodynamically unstable patients. Moreover, CVVHD may be useful as a continuation of therapy following the initial HD treatment.