Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of cycle exercise during hemodialysis (HD) on patients’ physical proficiency, muscle strength, quality of life and selected laboratory parameters. Patients and Methods: In a group of 29 (15 female, 14 male) HD patients (age 64.2 ± 13.1 years), 3 months of cycle training during dialysis sessions was performed. The following data were analyzed: strength of lower extremities (six-minute walk test, isokinetic knee extension, flexion peak torque), nutrition parameters (albumin, BMI), inflammation intensity (CRP, IL-6), and quality of life (SF-36v2). Results: In the six-minute walk test, the increase in walk velocity was 4% (3.56 km/h before and 3.73 km/h after cycle training; p < 0.01). At angular velocity (AV) of 60°/s, extension peak torque in the knee joint rose by 7% and at AV of 300°/s by 4% (p = 0.04). Flexion peak torque at AV of 180°/s increased by 13% (p = 0.0005). The program does not influence nutrition or inflammation parameters. No complications directly related to exercise were observed. Conclusion: Cycle exercise during dialysis is safe even in older HD patients with multiple comorbidities. It results in a significant increase in general patient walking ability and in a gain in lower extremity muscle strength.

IntroductionMore than 1/3 of patients with end-stage renal disease who are in a chronic dialysis program suffer from chronic pain and depression/anxiety. The aim of the study was to determine the impacts of symptoms of depression/anxiety, chronic pain and quality of life (QoL) on 6-year patient survival.Material and methodsObservational study of end-stage renal disease patients on maintenance hemodialysis (n = 205) who met the inclusion criteria. Patients from three dialysis centers in Lower Silesia were asked to complete a battery of validated questionnaires: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the 36-item Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire, the Verbal Rating Scale (VRS) and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Clinical and biochemical data (dialysis adequacy) were recorded.ResultsOne hundred thirty from 205 enrolled hemodialysis patients (63.4%) suffered from chronic pain. Patients with pain were on maintenance dialysis for longer times and had higher levels of parathyroid hormone, more depressive symptoms and a lower QoL than those without pain. In the 6-year period, 96 (46.8%) patients died. The most common cause of death was cardiovascular disease in 44 (45.8%) patients. Highly depressed patients (HADS depression score > 8) exhibited higher mortality (< 8 vs. > 8 points; p = 0.016) independent of age, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, C-reactive protein or albumin level.ConclusionsChronic pain, although common among hemodialysis patients, did not lower survival. Depressive symptoms are an important predictor for all-cause mortality in hemodialysis patients, with the relationship independent of nutritional or inflammatory status.

The novel observations in the present study are the data indicating that the distinctive contribution of IL-18, but not IL-6, to the arteriosclerosis occurrence in CKD patients, is independent from CRP, fetuin A or other factors involved in the general inflammatory process.

Obesity does not prevent successful autogenous arteriovenous fistula formation, and may protect forearm venous vessels from the iatrogenic damage that occurs before the onset of haemodialysis therapy.

Subcutaneous transposition of the arterialized median antebrachial vein is a simple and effective method of an adequate distal native fistula creation in patients with deeply located forearm veins.