Sudden drop in BP during dialysis may lead to death: Experts

LUCKNOW: A sudden drop in blood pressure of patients while undergoing dialysis has been a problem for long. It can cause stroke/seizure/heart damage leading to death, say experts explaining tricks of dialysis during a two-day workshop for kidney healthcare professionals at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences on Monday.

Professor Dharmendra Bhadauria of SGPGIMS addressing the workshop said, “Because of the fluctuation in blood pressure, patients also suffer in the short term with gastrointestinal, muscular and neurologic symptoms.

It is up to the technologist and doctor to change the combination of fluids to balance the blood pressure.”

According to experts, 30 to 40% patients see fluctuation in blood pressure during dialysis. Professor Bhadauria said that for establishing a dialysis centre, one needs a trained technologist to keep tab of blood pressure and other basic health parameters. It depends upon him to decide the amount of sodium and glucose in the fluid to balance the blood pressure.

These elements keep infections away despite repeated dialysis, hence role of a technologist is very important.

He added that dialysis is a lifeextending procedure for most patients with kidney failure, but it can be painful for some if they land up with poorly trained technologists.

Since dialysis involves sitting in a chair connected to an artificial kidney machine three or more times a week, one has to be very careful while selecting a technologist for the patient, Bhadauria said.