New clinical practice guideline for anemia and chronic kidney disease

Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) released a new Clinical Practice Guideline for Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) recently. The guideline offers clinicians around the world a fresh approach to balancing risks and benefits in the use of iron, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) and red cell transfusion.

  

KDIGO’s guideline is based on evidence from more than 50 randomized controlled trials and observational studies. The guideline provides recommendations for treating anemia in an individualized manner, with emphasis given to patient preferences and clinical status. The guideline is published in the August issue of Kidney International Supplements and is available online at www.KDIGO.org. 

“This clinical practice guideline aims to assist the practitioner caring for patients with CKD and anemia and to prevent deaths, cardiovascular disease events and progression to kidney failure while optimizing patients’ quality of life,” said Dr. Patrick Parfrey, Faculty of Medicine, who co-chaired the work group with John McMurray, MD, of BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, U.K.

The international work group consisted of 15 experts from the field of nephrology, cardiology, oncology, hematology, immunology, public health, epidemiology, pediatrics and obstetrics. 

“We updated Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative’s (KDOQI) Anemia in CKD Guideline from 2007 to assess the current evidence on various treatments for anemia and CKD, and to provide additional guidance on issues related to ESA hypo-responsiveness and transfusions,” said Dr. Parfrey. 

 

“KDIGO’s Guideline for Anemia in CKD grew out of our 2007 Controversies Conference on Anemia where we gathered recommendations from international experts for the next guideline,” said Bertram Kasiske, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota, director of nephrology at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn., and the co-chair of KDIGO.  

“We are confident the guideline will be a useful resource as it is comprehensive and summarizes all the current evidence. While we acknowledge the need for more research in the area of assessment of quality of life, we opted to give guidance, rather than remain silent,” Dr. Kasiske continued.

“KDIGO is dedicated to helping clinicians understand the current evidence to best treat their patients through the publication of clinical practice guidelines,” said KDIGO co-chair, David Wheeler, MD, FRCP of University College London. "This guideline covers the issue of blood transfusions in greater detail than ever before.”