[A hemodialysis bath with bicarbonate improves comfort and ultrafiltration]

To verify if bicarbonate dialysis actually improves the dialytic tolerance of acetate intolerant patients, we have measured the incidence of dialysis with side effects such as headache, nausea, vomiting, hypotension, post-dialytic fatigue at 180 days interval in 2 groups of patients. The first with a good tolerance to acetate, the other with a bad tolerance acetate but put meanwhile for 90 days on a bicarbonate dialysis. While the incidence of side effects did not change in the first group, it decreased by 75% in the second, in spite of a greater weight loss. Thus bicarbonate improves the dialytic tolerance in patients intolerant to acetate as well as ultrafiltration.