Shaheen Moin, Khalid Ghani.
The Effect of Dialysis on P02, PC02 and other variables.
Pak Armed Forces Med J Jan ;47(2):37-40.

Clinical experience shows that some patients with end stage renal disease who are on haemodialysis develop symptoms of respiratory distress such as breathlessness, pulmonary oedema and increasing cardiopulmonary decompensation at a variable interval after the start of the procedure. A study was carried out to determine the cause of the symptoms during maintenance dialysis in patients in our unit. At the start of dialysis, arterial blood gases, haemoglobin and platelets, polymorphonuclear leukocytes were determined. There was a significant fall in the P02 and PC02 levels at half hour into the dialysis which continued and was found to have increased at 4 hours of dialysis. This change in the blood gases correlated well with symptoms. The polymorphonuclear leukocyte and platelet counts did not change significantly. Complement levels were not checked as these measurements were not available at that time in our laboratory. Sequestration of polymorphs in the pulmonary vasculature did not appear to be the reason for the fall in the P02 levels. A coincident fall in the level was also recorded possibly related to the acetate buffer in the dialysis bath.

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