Nephrol Dial Transplant (2001) 16: 2138-2142
© 2001 European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association
Editorial Comments
Patients' safety and haemodialysis devices
Fresenius Medical Care, Deutschland GmbH, Bad Homburg, Germany
Introduction
Chronic and acute extracorporeal detoxification treatments, such as haemodialysis, haemofiltration, haemodiafiltration or haemoperfusion, clearly have become parts of the standard armamentarium of modern medicine. The necessary technical equipment has been transformed in the course of the last decades from prototype-like monsters (which nobody dared to touch without thorough education) to handy, nicely designed and reliably working commercial products that are produced in large quantities by the medical industry. It has been estimated that in 1999 the worldwide inventory was more than 280000 dialysis machines with about 40000 new devices entering this market in 1999 alone. Given these numbers it is certainly justified to qualify the use of extracorporeal detoxification technology as a ‘routine procedure’.
Are these procedures safe?
We have seen in many other fields, such as air transportation, nuclear power generation and other examples of routinely applied sophisticated technologies, that it is apparently part of human nature to quickly forget that none of
How great is the technical risk in extracorporeal detoxification?
What is the contribution of industry to patient safety?
Nothing is perfect
Conclusions
Notes
References
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