Intradialytic complications: a poor prognostic factor among patients with lassa fever with acute kidney injury undergoing hemodialysis

Background Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent complication of Lassa fever (LF) that is notably associated with poor outcome. The study aimed at evaluating the relationship between the clinical parameters and outcome of hemodialysis-treated patients with AKI complicating LF and to highlight our experience between 2014 and 2018. Materials and methods This was a descriptive, observational, and retrospective study involving patients with LF complicated by AKI who had hemodialysis at the dedicated dialysis suite located in our hospital between January 2014 and September 2018. Information were extracted from the clinical and laboratory records of the patients during the period under review. Results A total of 83 patients had 199 sessions of hemodialysis. Male to female ratio was 2.5 : 1. The mean age was 34.3±13.7 years. The mean number of hemodialysis sessions per patient was 2.4±1.5. The frequency of intradialytic complication was 9.6%, whereas hypotension (62.5%) was the commonest. Occurrence of intradialytic complications was significantly associated with mortality (χ2=5.370, d.f.=1, P=0.020). A high incidence of anemia (65.1%) was observed among the patients. Sixteen (19.3%) of the patients died. There was no significant association between age, sex, number of dialysis session or anemia and outcome of LF. Compared with those who died, patients who recovered had significantly higher mean postdialysis diastolic blood pressure (t=2.382, P=0.020). Conclusion Intradialytic complication is infrequent in dialysis treated LF patients with AKI, but has significant association with mortality.