Relationship among catheter insertions, vascular access infections, and anemia management in hemodialysis patients.

Tricia L. Roberts, Gregorio T. Obrador, Wendy L. St Peter, Brian J G Pereira, Allan J. Collins

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

60 Scopus citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Arteriovenous fistulas are the recommended permanent vascular access (VA) for chronic hemodialysis. However, in the United States most patients begin chronic hemodialysis with a catheter. Recent data suggest that VA type contributes to recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) resistance. We examined catheter insertions, VA infections, and anemia management in Medicare, rHuEPO-treated, chronic hemodialysis patients. METHODS: We compared hemoglobin values and rHuEPO and intravenous iron dosing with concurrent catheter insertions and VA infections in 186,348 period-prevalent patients in 2000. We studied anemia management after catheter insertions and VA infections in 67,410 incident patients from 1997 to 1999. Multiple linear regression models examined follow-up hemoglobin and rHuEPO dose per week (rHuEPO/wk) by numbers of catheter insertions and hospitalizations for VA infection. RESULTS: In the prevalent cohort, increasing temporary and permanent catheter insertions and VA infections were associated with slightly lower hemoglobin, higher rHuEPO doses, and higher intravenous iron doses. In the incident cohort, compared to patients with no VA infections or no catheter insertions (temporary or permanent), respectively, patients with 2+ VA infections or 2+ catheter insertions had 0.12 g/dL and 0.06 g/dL lower mean hemoglobin (P = 0.0028 and P < 0.0001), and 25.7% and 12.2% higher mean rHuEPO/wk (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Higher rHuEPO doses may be required to maintain similar or slightly lower mean hemoglobin values among chronic hemodialysis patients with higher numbers of catheter insertions and VA infections, compared to patients without any.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2429-2436
Number of pages8
JournalKidney international
Volume66
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2004

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was supported in part by an unrestricted research grant from Amgen, Inc., Thousand Oaks, California. We thank the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for providing the data used in this study. We also thank Shu-Cheng Chen for data set construction, C. Daniel Sheets for systems management, James Kaufmann for manuscript editing, and Beth Forrest and Dana D. Knopic for other manuscript support and regulatory assistance.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Relationship among catheter insertions, vascular access infections, and anemia management in hemodialysis patients.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this