Low albumin=bad for the unit

[angieskidney]

Can someone explain to me what a "crit line" is and what device or machine is used to messure this?

A crit line is machine that measures oxygen and hematocrit of the blood while on dialysis.

Okay you guys .. you have to explain things like you are explaining it to someone who doesn't know anything about kidneys and dialysis ... Sandman does not have any kidney problems but only knows the little bit he knows just from me and seeing me on HD inclinic. And I am still learning myself. This is why when I post I put links as much as I can. Maybe Epoman should put up a glossery page??

They hook a a little plastic thingy (medical term there )  in between the top of the dialyzer and the tubing.  A spring clap device is put onto the little plastic thingy and measures the oxygen and hematocrit and it translates the data to the crit line machine which displays the data on a graph.

Must pretty much be the same thing Amber 79.


Better than I can explain it, here is a link to the site. 

http://crit-line.com/Default.jsp

Thx for that Read the For patients to learn more

[Panda_9]

The BVM here is an attachment that is on some of the fresenius machines here where you clip the venous and arterial lines in and a graph comes up on the screen measuring HCT, HB, and KT/V. I dont really know much about it, but we use it to help determine dry weight if we are having trouble, and also to get a KT/V score. Theres only a few of these machines around that I have noticed, so if theres a need to use one you have to arrange it.

[Zach]

I just got b*tched at on Tuesday for my low albumin level-- my nephrologist said, "When you have a low albumin, you make the unit look bad!"  (They have this self-imposed 'goal' to have everyone's albumin above 3.5.)

I was SOOOO close to saying, "So, I guess my surviving ten years in this unit doesn't mean crap? You get one bad test result and suddenly it's my fault your unit looks bad?"

Hey, lady, it's my 'goal' to stay alive... I could give a damn about making the unit 'look good.'


(I used the frowny-face icon because there's not an icon that describes just how p*issed off I am about this!)

Back to the original post ...

It is a shame that your Unit's staff become abusive when you don't hit the right mark.

That being said, as patients, we should all understand the national guidelines for dialysis patients as set forth by the National Kidney Foundation.

Their site is:  http://www.kidney.org/professionals/kdoqi/about.cfm

A low ( <4.0 g/dL ) albumin may mean the patient is protein-energy malnourished, but it can also mean other things as well, such as inflammation.