Hospital costs and clinical characteristics of continuous renal replacement therapy patients: a continuous ethical dilemma.

This study describes the clinical characteristics and examines hospital costs involved in the care of 117 patients undergoing Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT) between January 1999 and August 2002. The majority (70.9%) of the patients undergoing CRRT expired in the hospital. Statistically significant differences were found with respect to the length of stay for discharge status and gender; and with respect to costs for surgery versus no surgery and gender. Significant differences were also found between discharge status and gender, age, and cardiovascular surgery. The results of this study raise economic and ethical questions related to the cost/benefit of CRRT and the futility of the treatment. Hospitals should ensure that they have utilization protocols in place for CRRT, promote cooperation between intensive care unit (ICU) physicians and nephrologists, and create multi-disciplinary CRRT teams in an effort to maximize the effectiveness of therapy and minimize costs.