The Association Between Catheter Type and Dialysis Treatment: A Retrospective Data Analysis at Two U.S.-Based ICUs

Dialysis catheter type may be associated with differences in continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) treatment in the critically ill, with potential implications for patient outcomes and healthcare costs. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between the catheter type and multiple dialysis treatment outcomes among the critically ill. DESIGN: Retrospective, observational study. SETTING: Two U.S.-based ICUs. PARTICIPANTS: Critically ill patients receiving CRRT between April 1, 2018, and July 1, 2020. A total of 1,037 CRRT sessions were analyzed. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Circuit life, alarm interruption frequency (including a subset of vascular access [VA]-related alarms), termination type (elective vs nonelective), and blood flow rates. Pre- (n = 530) and post-catheter change (n = 507) periods were assessed, and the post-change period was further divided into intervals of pre-COVID (n = 167) and COVID contemporaneous (n = 340) to account for the pandemic’s impact. RESULTS: Compared with pre-change sessions, post-change sessions had 31% longer circuit life (95% CI, 1.14–1.49; p < 0.001), 3% higher blood flow rate (1.01–1.05; p < 0.01), and lower proportion of nonelective terminations (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.42 [0.28–0.62]; p < 0.001). There were fewer interruptions for all alarms (adjusted count ratio, 0.95 [0.87–1.05]; p = 0.31) and VA-related alarms (0.80 [0.66–0.96]; p = 0.014). The sessions during COVID period were statistically similar to pre-COVID sessions for all outcomes except a lower proportion of nonelective terminations (adjusted OR, 0.39 [0.22–0.70]; p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: A change in catheter type was associated with longer CRRT sessions with fewer interruptions and unexpected terminations in a population of critical patients.