Elsevier

Kidney International

Volume 57, Issue 5, May 2000, Pages 2123-2128
Kidney International

Dialysis – Transplantation
Glucose infusion test: A new screening test for vascular access recirculation

https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1755.2000.00063.xGet rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Glucose infusion test: A new screening test for vascular access recirculation.

Background

Vascular access recirculation is an important cause of diminished dialysis efficiency. We propose a new screening test based on glucose infusion as a tracer for recirculation.

Methods

The glucose infusion test (GIT) protocol comprises a basal blood sample (A) from the arterial port, a 5 mL bolus of 20% glucose into the venous chamber (time 0), followed by a second sample (B) in four seconds (from 13 to 17 s with QB 300 mL/min) from the same port. The blood glucose level is determined at the bedside on A and B with a reflectance photometer (CV 1.8%). Interpretation of the test is straightforward: If B = A, there is no recirculation, whereas if B > A, recirculation can be calculated from the regression equation: 0.046 × (B - A) + 0.07, obtained from in vitro tests reproducing artificial recirculation at 0, 5, and 10%. To validate this new method in vivo, we compared GIT and the urea test on 39 hemodialysis patients, obtaining a good correlation (r = 0.93). The two tests were considered positive (recirculation present) when the lower 95% confidence intervals were more than zero.

Results

Our patients were divided into two groups: those with (22 out of 39, mean recirculation 11.8%) or without recirculation (17 out of 39, mean 0.06%). The urea test did not recognize 7 out of 22 patients because they had a small recirculation below the urea test limit of detection.

Conclusions

GIT was more sensitive (detection limit 0.3%), simpler, and immediate in showing the results than the urea test. It is an accurate and low-cost technique for screening and follow-up of vascular access in a dialysis unit.

Keywords

dialysis efficiency
urea test
vascular access
cardiopulmonary recirculation

Cited by (0)