Impact of the pandemic by COVID-19 on the profile of critical patients assisted by a hemodialysis service

Abstract

Introduction and objective: Critically ill patients with COVID-19 often progress to acute kidney injury and need for hemodialysis. The aim of this study was to compare the care profile of critically ill patients undergoing renal replacement therapy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Observational study carried out at a university hospital in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Critical patients undergoing hemodialysis from April to June 2019 and April to June 2020 participated in the study. Data were collected from hemodialysis care documents and electronic medical records. The Chi-square, Mann-Whitney, Shapiro-Wilk, Fisher's exact test were used (5% significance).

Results: 212 patients participated, 50 in 2019 and 171 in 2020. In 2019, 30.0% of patients were hospitalized due to acute renal changes, 90.0% had increased entry creatinine, were referred to intensive care after 4.62± 6.38 days and started hemodialysis after 17.26±24.53 days. In 2020, 66.7% were hospitalized for COVID-19, 77.7% had increased entry creatinine, were referred to intensive care after 2.21±3.63 days and started hemodialysis after 10.24±11.99 days . 212 hemodialysis sessions were performed in 2019 and 873 in 2020. There were more deaths in 2020 (p=0.01) and patients with COVID-19 (p=0.014) and hemodynamic instability (p=0.016) were the most affected.

Conclusion: In 2020, there was an increase of 3.42 times in the number of critical patients on hemodialysis and an increase of 4.11 times in the number of sessions compared to the year 2019.