Hemodialysis Adequacy

Patients who reach CKD stage 4 (GFR < 30 mL/min/1.73 m²), including those who have imminent need for maintenance dialysis at the time of initial assessment, should receive education about kidney failure and options for its treatment, including kidney transplantation, PD, HD in the home or in-center, and conservative treatment. Patients' family members and caregivers also should be educated about treatment choices for kidney failure. (Not Graded)

The decision to initiate maintenance dialysis in patients who choose to do so should be based primarily upon an assessment of signs and/or symptoms associated with uremia, evidence of protein-energy wasting, and the ability to safely manage metabolic abnormalities and/or volume overload with medical therapy rather than on a specific level of kidney function in the absence of such signs and symptoms. (Not Graded)