Selection of modality of renal replacement therapy

Abstract

The proliferation of new technologies has led to the availability of a broad range of options for the management of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in patients with acute kidney injury. We provide a review of the published literature comparing the continuous RRTs (CRRT) with other modalities of renal support, including intermittent hemodialysis and the more recently described "hybrid" therapies such as sustained, low efficiency dialysis as well as compare arteriovenous and venovenous and convective and diffusive modalities of CRRT. While there is clear evidence that venovenous therapies are superior to arteriovenous therapies, current evidence does not support superiority of convective when compared with diffusive therapies or greater survival or recovery of kidney function with any individual modality of RRT. Selection of modality of RRT should therefore rely on the resources and expertise available.