Arteriovenous hemodiafiltration in children.

Continuous arteriovenous hemofiltration is a safe and effective renal replacement therapy system for critically ill patients. In hypercatabolic states urea elimination is too low resulting in high serum urea levels. The aim of this report is to describe the technique of arteriovenous hemodiafiltration and its efficiency on urea elimination. Using two different hemofilters urea clearances achieved by means of arteriovenous hemodiafiltration approximately doubled when compared with spontaneous arteriovenous hemofiltration (urea clearance: 1.25 +/- 0.24 ml/min.-CAVH versus 2.6 +/- 0.59 ml/min.-CAVHDF-0.1sqm hemofilter and 11.77 +/- 1.82 ml/min.-CAVH versus 21.63 +/- 2.63 ml/min.-CAVHDF-0.6sqm hemofilter). Arteriovenous hemodiafiltration is a safe and simple extracorporal technique well tolerated by children. It's a useful adjunct to spontaneous arteriovenous hemofiltration to control azotemia in critically ill hypercatabolic patients.