Comparison of blood volume biofeedback hemodialysis and conventional hemodialysis on cardiovascular stability and blood pressure control in hemodialysis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background Despite the improvements in hemodialysis (HD) technology, 20–30% of sessions are still complicated by hypotension or hypotension-related symptoms.

Biofeedback systems have proven to reduce the occurrence of such events, but no conclusive findings can lead to wider adoption of these systems.

We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials to establish whether the use of blood volume tracking systems compared to conventional hemodialysis (C-HD) reduces the occurrence of intradialytic hypotension.

Methods The PRISMA guidelines were used to carry out this systematic review.

Randomized clinical trials that evaluated the incidence of intradialytic hypotension during C-HD and blood volume tracking-HD were searched in the current literature.

PROSPERO registration number: CRD42023426328.

Results Ninety-seven randomized clinical trials were retrieved.

Nine studies, including 347 participants and 13,274 HD treatments were considered eligible for this systematic review.

The results showed that the use of biofeedback systems reduces the risk of intradialytic hypotension (log odds ratio = 0.63, p  = 0.03) in hypotension-prone patients (log odds ratio = 0.54, p  = 0.04).

When analysis was limited to fluid overloaded or hypertensive patients, it did not show the same effect (log odds ratio = 0.79, p  = 0.38).

No correlation was found in systolic blood pressure drop during dialysis and in post-dialysis blood pressure.

Conclusions The use of blood volume tracking systems may be effective in reducing the incidence of intradialytic hypotension and allowing for easier attainment of the patients’ ideal dry body weight.

New studies to examine the long-term effects of the use of blood volume tracking systems on real hard endpoints are needed.

Graphical abstract