Complications with continuous renal replacement therapy

Continuous renal replacement therapies (CRRTs) are widely used as a treatment of acute renal failure (ARF) in critically ill patients. Because of the severe illness of these patients, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between complications related to the therapy and those related to the illness, Furthermore, the rapid evolution in technology and the newer indications for these therapies have led to a parallel change in the frequancy and importance of various complications. In the present article, we summarize the most important complications encountered in the clinical routine of CRRT, including those frequently observed at the early history of this form of therapy. (C) 1996 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.