2 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
In this pragmatic clinical trial, which will dovetail with Veterans' routine outpatient dialysis clinic visits in six VA medical centers, the investigators will study 252 Veterans with kidney disease who need to start dialysis treatment. If a Veteran is eligible for the study by making enough residual urine, he/she will have a 50% chance to be offered the usual three-times-per-week dialysis vs. twice-per-week dialysis that is gradually increased to three-times per- week over one year. The investigators will compare health-related quality of life, how long residual kidney function lasts, and other measures including safety in these two groups. By conducting this study, the investigators hope to understand 1) whether starting dialysis with less frequency is safe, effective, and can help Veterans and their care-partners to better cope with dialysis, and 2) if incremental dialysis can result in major cost benefits to the VA health care system, thus allowing more patients to stay in VA dialysis clinics vs. being transferred to outside clinics.
Critically ill patients with acute kidney injury and fluid overload who are frequently treated by fluid removal during dialysis are at an increased risk of complications and death. Both slower and faster rates of fluid removal may cause injury to the vital organs. This proposed clinical trial will examine the feasibility of restrictive compared with a liberal rate of fluid removal in order to develop effective treatments for fluid overload and to improve the health of critically ill patients.