Causes of hospitalization in patients on maintenance hemodialysis with arteriovenous fistula in a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal, India.

Patients with renal failure and on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) have a higher propensity toward cardiovascular and infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to find the causes for hospital admission in patients suffering from kidney failure and on maintenance HD. This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal, India, from January to December, 2015. Patients with chronic kidney disease stage 5 for more than one year and on HD with arteriovenous fistula admitted for other than HD were included in the study. Days of hospital stay and current diagnosis were stored for further analysis. Data were expressed in mean, standard deviation, percentage, and frequency. All the statistical tests were carried out in GraphPad prism 6.01. Data of total 49 (30 male, 19 female) patients with mean age 55.8 ± 10.98 years (range 27-75 years) were analyzed. Eighteen (36.73%) and 48 (97.96%) patients were suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension (HTN), respectively. Average stay in hospital was 10.31 ± 6.07 days (range: 5-43 days). Most common causes for hospitalization were left ventricular failure (LVF) (59.18%) followed by respiratory tract infection (RTI) (14.29%). In patients with renal failure receiving maintenance HD, LVF is the most common cause for hospital admission followed by RTI. Hence, the management of HTN and preventive measures for RTI should be stressed in HD patients.