Renal Replacement Therapy in Patients over 65 Years Old

Age at onset of renal replacement therapy (RRT) is increasing in all countries. Two substitution methods of renal function remain available: hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD). It was a retrospective study carried out on January 2015 and it included patients older than 65 years, monitored for HD and PD. We studied their epidemiological and clinical profile, their evolution, and the elements of prognosis. Two groups of 42 patients were included. The first was about 30 HD patients representing 25% of all patients on HD with an average age of 71 ± 4.5 years. The second was concerning 12 patients on PD having a mean age of 69.8 ± 3.5 years and representing 11.7% of all patients on PD. Functional and vital prognosis of a patient with end stage renal disease (ESRD) depends, in the elderly, on psychological, cognitive functions, and the degree of autonomy.