Chest
Volume 155, Issue 3, March 2019, Pages 626-638
Journal home page for Chest

Contemporary Reviews in Critical Care Medicine
Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy: Who, When, Why, and How

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2018.09.004Get rights and content

Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is commonly used to provide renal support for critically ill patients with acute kidney injury, particularly patients who are hemodynamically unstable. A variety of techniques that differ in their mode of solute clearance may be used, including continuous venovenous hemofiltration with predominantly convective solute clearance, continuous venovenous hemodialysis with predominantly diffusive solute clearance, and continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration, which combines both dialysis and hemofiltration. The present article compares CRRT with other modalities of renal support and reviews indications for initiation of renal replacement therapy, as well as dosing and technical aspects in the management of CRRT.

Key Words

acute kidney injury
continuous renal replacement therapy
dialysis
hemodialysis
hemofiltration

Abbreviations

AKI
acute kidney injury
CRRT
continuous renal replacement therapy
CVVH
continuous venovenous hemofiltration
CVVHD
continuous venovenous hemodialysis
CVVHDF
continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration
IHD
intermittent hemodialysis
PIRRT
prolonged intermittent renal replacement therapy
RRT
renal replacement therapy
UFH
unfractionated heparin

Cited by (0)

View Abstract