| Theme |
How Should We Step up the Future Dialysis Therapy in Japan ? |
| Title |
Clinical guideline for dialysis patients |
| Author |
Tohru Mizumasa |
Department of Internal Medicine, Fukuoka Red Cross Hospital |
| Author |
Hideki Hirakata |
Department of Internal Medicine, Fukuoka Red Cross Hospital |
| [ Summary ] |
In Japan over 280,000 patients with endstage renal failure receive some form of dialysis, mostly hemodialysis. Half of these patients are diabetics or elderly patients over 65 years old. In spite of this unfavorable situation, the annual crude death rate has never exceeded 10 %, providing the best prognosis record in the world. There have been significant improvements in dialysis technology as well as in pharmaceutical preparations over the past 40 years. We have come to realize we must standardize our medical performance to achieve further improvements in clinical outcomes. One method to accomplish this aim is to develop our own clinical practice guidelines or recommendations. However, the quantity of highly-graded evidence is limited. It is thus required that we increase our productivity in developing novel and firm evidence, which will support our future guidelines. |