Intermittent Online Postdilution Hemodiafiltration versus High-Flux Hemodialysis in Non-critical Acute Kidney Injury: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

The preferential use of convective modes of hemodialysis (HD) for targeting hypercytokinemia state in sepsis-related acute kidney injury (AKI) has been questioned for its efficacy. Several studies have used predilution hemodiafiltration (HDF) in critically ill AKI patients with mixed results. In this study, we compared intermittent online postdilution HDF with the standard high-flux (HF) intermittent HD in non-critically ill patients with community-acquired (CA) AKI. In this pilot study, stable patients with CA AKI and systemic inflammatory response syndrome were included and given either postdilution online-HDF (OL-HDF) or standard HF HD outside intensive care units. The primary objectives were to assess the feasibility of conducting the study at a larger scale and to detect the differential impact of convective clearance on the rates of independence from dialysis at discharge or after 30 days. Plasma cytokine clearance was assessed as a secondary objective. Eighty consecutive AKI patients were randomized to receive dialysis in one of the treatment arms after fulfilling the eligibility criteria. The baseline parameters of clinical severity, etiology, and indications of dialysis, plus the baseline plasma cytokine profiles, were comparable. Moreover, 83% in the control arm and 71.1% in the intervention arm became independent from dialysis at discharge or at 30 days (P = 0.189). No survival advantage of postdilution OL-HDF was observed (P >0.05). Similar plasma cytokine clearance levels were noted in both arms. The current study confirms the feasibility; however, it does not support the preferential use of postdilution OL-HDF over HF-HD in non-critical patients.