The effect of hemodialysis session on postural strategies in older end-stage renal disease patients.

Patients suffering from end-stage renal disease experience multiple disabilities, such as muscle wasting, weakness, higher postural sway, and fall rates compared with healthy population, which has a negative effect on physical functioning and autonomy. The vital treatment of hemodialysis is recognized to induce important post-hemodialysis fatigue, hypotension, cramps, and headache due to the rapid fluid redistribution, among others. Nevertheless, even the well-known negative effect of aforementioned consequences of hemodialysis treatment, its effect on physical function, especially postural balance, is unclear. Thus, this study hypothesized the adverse effect of hemodialysis treatment on postural sway in 12 end-stage renal disease patients (mean age 63.3 ± 11 years) through the analysis of center-of-pressure (COP) trajectories recorded before and immediately after hemodialysis session. Evident postural alterations were observed at post-hemodialysis balance assessment for COP position-based (Fs < 7.7, P < 0.02) and COP velocity-based variables (Fs > 2.33, P < 0.05), without changes in complexity of COP time series in anteroposterior and mediolateral directions. These results suggest that period after hemodialysis treatment is particularly unsafe, as evidenced by important disability in postural control, and highlight the importance of the medical support and falls-related prevention strategies of these older frail patients after hemodialysis treatment.