Paediatric haemodialysis: estimation of treatment efficiency in the presence of urea rebound.

The 2-pool urea kinetic model has been developed analytically and applied to the description of the observed increase in blood levels of urea following dialysis (urea rebound), assuming that the dialyser urea clearance K less than 0.4X where X is the urea mass transfer coefficient between the intracellular and extracellular pools (volumes V1, V2 respectively). Urea generation was also neglected. Measurements were made in a group of six children suffering from chronic renal failure. From the model X, the efficiency of dialysis, and the equilibrium urea concentration C infinity were estimated in the presence of urea rebound using a blood urea measurement taken 90 min following start of dialysis, in addition to the conventional samples taken immediately pre- and post-dialysis. In three of the patients agreement between the experimental value of X derived from a multi-blood-sample technique post-dialysis, and the model value, was within 10%, for the range V1 = 0.4 W - 0.38 W, V2 = 0.2 W - 0.238 W, (W = patient's weight). Experimental values of X were in the range 93 - 300 ml min-1. Model estimates of C infinity were accurate to within 10%. An approximate technique was also developed which permitted an estimate of C infinity which was independent of V1, V2, K. The results indicated that C infinity was estimated to within 10% of the true equilibrium urea concentration. The error in the estimate of dialysis efficiency based on a single pool model was reduced by at least 50% using the model. The model may be applied clinically to the estimation of dialysis efficiency in the presence of significant urea rebound.