Introduction
bleeding
BLEEDING, COMPLICATIONS
Systemic anticoagulation during continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) is associated with bleeding complications. Citrate-based regional anticoagulation has a lower risk of bleeding [An alternative for guiding calcium supplementation by blood ionized calcium concentrations is monitoring the daily loss of calcium by CVVH. This is possible by measuring the calcium concentration in the ultrafiltrate. Alternatively, daily calcium excretion in the ultrafiltrate could be calculated using routinely available CVVH parameters and the blood calcium concentration.In the published literature, we were able to find two mathematical models to calculate calcium loss during citrate CVVH, both from the same study group in Shanghai, China. Neither of these models have been validated in independent populations of patients [Aim of this study is to develop and to validate an equation to calculate calcium loss in CVVH ultrafiltrate using routinely available CVVH parameters and blood calcium concentration, and to apply this equation to calculate the effects of CVVH on calcium losses and calcium balance in a retrospective cohort of ICU patients treated with CVVH with citrate anticoagulation.