Meals and arterial pressure drop in hemodialysis: Myth or reality?

Varia
By Dominique Barrau, Arlette Contreras, Thérèse Felten, Anita Glath, Nathalie Lengenfelder, Sonia Nergen Klicki, Isabelle Rosenblatt, Armand Ruhlmann, Marie-France Westermann, Peggy Zint, Nicole Borzer, Marie-Anne Geldreich, Yves Dimitrov
English

Meals provide a pleasant moment during dialysis sessions, and most dialysis patients enjoy them. However, empirical observation shows that certain patients present a drop in arterial pressure after taking their meal. The question arises: leaving aside factors inherent to the dialysis, does the meal have a particular effect on arterial pressure during the session? Numerous studies have been carried out since 1983 on post-prandial hypotension among the elderly, but very few on post-prandial hypotension during hemodialysis sessions; those that are available tell us relatively little. For this study, carried out at the hospital center in Haguenau, a comparative method was used, with each patient receiving two sessions, one with a meal and one without. The evaluation tool consists of a grid showing the variables measured in the study. The hypothesis proposed at the outset of the project was not verified: we were unable to demonstrate a significant link between meals and drops in arterial pressure. However, the limited number of patients used in the study (fifty) does not allow for any conclusion in favor of the myth. A further study is needed, gathering the same data from a far larger population.

Keywords

  • session hemodialysis
  • meal
  • arterial pressure drop
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