Slow hemodialysis performed during the day in managing renal failure in critically ill patients.

Slow hemodialysis (HD) was performed for 10 h during the day in 11 critically ill patients with renal failure. The dialysis method was a modification of the pump-driven continuous venovenous HD. A nonsterile bicarbonate-containing hemodialysate was passed into the EVAL membrane dialyzer at a flow rate of 30 ml/min. No patient developed further hemodynamic instability during the treatment. The serum urea level was maintained below 20 mmol/l within 4 days of initiating the treatment. It allowed the patients to rest without interruption at night. This method was safely conducted by general nursing staff under the supervision of nephrologists on duty during the day. This schedule offers an approach to renal replacement therapy for hemodynamically unstable patients without any potential problem in the extracorporeal circulation at night.