Optimising Filter Life in Intensive Care Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy

Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is a therapy used to correct biochemical parameters. It is common in the intensive care setting for its stability compared to intermittent haemodialysis in patients who are unstable. CRRT is complex and, by nature of continuously running blood outside the body, is prone to clotting and disruptive loss of circuits unless mitigating strategies are employed. The most important strategy addressed to date are therapies that stop the blood from clotting. In this thesis we explore advantages of citrate compared to heparin to prevent clotting along with identifying other factors that affect circuit life.