Complications and Troubleshooting During Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy

Acute kidney injury is a frequent event in intensive care. Generally, patients receiving extracorporeal treatment have prolonged hospitalization and are at a high risk of death. In those patients requiring renal replacement treatment, a continuous technique (CRRT) is preferred because of its presumed superiority in hemodynamic stability, metabolic clearance, and volume control over intermittent hemodialysis (IHD). However, due to the critical nature of these patients, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between treatment-related complications and those due to the disease. This chapter describes the issue of complications and troubleshooting during continuous renal replacement therapy.