Abstract: Objective This prospective and self-controlled study was designed to evaluate whether change from low-flux hemodialysis to high-flux hemodialysis could improve patients’ nutrition status. Methods We recruited 136 patients on maintenance low-flux hemodialysis. We then changed the low-flux dialyzer to high-flux F60 or FX60 dialyzer for hemodialysis without changing any other dialysis prescriptions. Plasma albumin, appetite score and subjective global assessment (SGA) were assessed before the change and after the change for 6 months. Results Plasma albumin remained unchanged in all patients after the change. In patients whose albumin increased lower than 25 percentile, plasma albumin was 36.4±3.1g/L, and 39.9±3.9g/L (P<0.001) before the change and after the change for 3 and 6 months, respectively. Appetite score increased (P=0.0049) after the change for 6 months. SAG score also increased (P<0.05) after the change for 3 and 6 months. Conclusions The results show that the shift from low-flux to high-flux hemodialysis improves the nutrition status in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Key words: Low flux hemodialysis, Nutrition status