Renal replacement therapy for critically ill patients: An intermittent continuity

Abstract

Choice of the right renal replacement therapy for severe acute kidney injury in critically ill patients has been investigated many times in the last two decades. Although some questions have been answered, in current practice many different approaches are still used in the ICU. One basic and important issue is the frequency of renal replacement delivery: apart from pathophysiological speculations, in terms of hard outcomes (namely mortality and length of hospital stay) should dialysis be delivered continuously or intermittently? The authors of the CONVINT study provided a (last) response to this debate: in expert hands, the two treatments provide similar outcomes. This study confirms previous studies and is also important for other aspects, such as the possibility that the two modalities are complementary and may be indicated for different purposes. © 2014 Ricci and Romagnoli; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.