Traditionally achieving the high convective volumes necessary for efficient HDF has been difficult. The blood water fraction possible to filter through the membrane may vary greatly from one treatment to another, being affected by hematocrit level, nutritional state, presence of infection, etc.
Over the years Gambro has worked to overcome these challenges and to remove the need for staff to regularly monitor and adjust the machine during each session.
The challenge of achieving high volumes
To fully achieve the benefits of postdilution HDF, large convective volumes are needed. Although this sounds simple, challenges such as excessive hemoconcentration and subsequent high pressure alarms, or even clotting, are a common result of trying to achieve these high volumes. High trans membrane pressure (TMP) may even lead to an unexpected reduction in convective filtration caused by blockage of membrane pores.
The Gambro solution
With the addition of the breakthrough ULTRAcontrol from Gambro, it is possible to fully overcome these challenges. All components in our integrated system make it safe and easy to achieve the high convective volumes necessary for optimal treatment.