| [ Summary ] |
The number of the patients initiating hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis, due to diabetic nephropathy is increasing. Diabetic patients have many complications at the initiation of dialysis. Among the symptoms at the initiation of dialysis, volume overload, the symptoms related to cardiovascular systems, neuropathy and retinopathy are more prevalent in diabetic patients than in those with the other renal diseases.
The criteria for the initiation of dialysis were shown in 1991 by a group of researchers supported by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan. In this criteria, the clinical symptoms, the renal functions and the extent of active daily living are evaluated and scored for each patient. The scorig system of the criteria is regarded as appropriate by the retrospective examination of the relationship between score of the patients at the initiation of dialysis and prognosis, and it is commonly used in clinical practice. |