Abstract:Objective To observe the efficacy and safety of low-dose two-stage regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA) in hemodialysis with calcium-containing dialysate in patients with high risk of bleeding. Methods The patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis with high risk of bleeding and meeting criteria for citrate anticoagulation were divided into two groups. The ratio of blood flow to volume of infused 4% sodium citrate was 1:1.5 in the regular-dose two-stge RCA group (regular-dose group), while that was 1:1.0 in the low-dose twostge RCA group (low-dose group). 4% citrate anticoagulation solution was infused both prior to dialyzer and at venous bubble trap. Standard calcium-containing dialysate was used in both regular-dose and low-dose group, and calcium was not supplemented in venous circuit. Demographic data, clinical indicators of hemodialysis, efficacy of anticoagulation and single-session Kt/V were observed regularly during the treatment. The above parameters were compared between the regular-dose group and the low-dose group. Results A total of 303 hemodialysis sessions in 83 patients were included, of which 180 hemodialysis sessions were treated by regular-dose RCA, where the effective blood flow was 150 ml/min, dialysate volume was 300 ml/min, and mean volume of 4% sodium citrate was (225.6±14.2) ml/h prior to dialyzer and (18.5±3.3) ml/h at venous bubble trap. For the other 123 hemodialysis sessions treated by low-dose RCA, the effective blood volume was 200 ml/min, dialysate volume was 500 ml/min,and mean volume of 4% sodium citrate was (200.6±10.4) ml/h prior to dialyzer and (20.5±3.2) ml/h at venous bubble trap. When comparing the two groups, there were significant differences in the effective rate of anticoagulation in both cases of infusion prior to dialyzer (97.3% VS 100.0%, P < 0.05) and at venous bubble trap (96.8% VS 100.0%, P < 0.05). Furthermore, the single-session Kt/V of regular-dose group was significantly higher than that of the the low-dose group (1.0±0.2 VS 0.8±0.1, P < 0.05). Conclusions Low-dose two-stage RCA is an effective and safe anticoagulation option for hemodialysis patients with high risk of bleeding. Relatively, low-dose RCA is superior to regular-dose RCA in the dialysis sufficiency with higher blood flow, and can be widely used for hemodialysis in clinical practice.