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Abstract

Objective: To determine frequencies of various acute complications in patients undergoing hemodialysis.Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.Place and Duration of Study: Department of Nephrology Military Hospital (MH) Rawalpindi, from Jan 2016 till Mar 2016.Material and Methods: A total of 150 patients who underwent haemodialysis at MH were enrolled in the study after informed consent on justification of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The patients were evaluated for the frequency of various intra-dialytic complications and data were analysed using SPSS version 19.Results: Out of the 150 enrolled patients, males were 125 (83.33%) and females were 25 (16.67%). A total of 2520 haemodialysis session were performed. Hypotension was the most frequently observed complication during 318 (12.62%) dialysis sessions, followed by hypertension in 208 (8.25%) and fever in 193 (7.66%) sessions. Other complications were muscle cramps in 116 (4.60%), shivering in 94 (3.73%), headache in 70 (2.78%), nausea/vomiting 60 (2.38%), itching 41 (1.62%), chest pain 37 (1.47%), hypoglycaemia 31 (1.23%), seizures 23 (0.91%) and arrhythmias in 13 (0.52%) dialysis sessions.Conclusion: Haemodialysis, one of the renal replacement therapies, is a life-saving treatment modality but it is not without complications despite the advances in technology. However frequency with which they occur is low and majority are not life threatening.
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