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Intensive Dialysis Doesn't Save Lives of the Sickest

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Giving seriously ill patients high-intensity dialysis is no better at saving lives or speeding recovery than a lower-intensity version of the same treatment, new research shows.

The patients in question were the sickest of the sick; all were in hospital intensive care units (ICUs).

"Approximately half had overwhelming infection, causing multiple body organs to fail. Others had complications following major surgery, most commonly for heart surgery, and some were admitted to ICU following severe trauma or injury," explained Dr. Alan Cass, co-author of the study published in the Oct. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Findings from previous, smaller studies had suggested that intensive dialysis treatment for people with severe acute kidney injury saved lives," said Cass, director of the renal and metabolic division at the George Institute for International Health in Sydney, Australia. "This study, consistent with the findings of another recent large trial, found no benefit with intensive dialysis over standard dialysis treatment.