Children's Hospital Association: The Dramatic Decline of Infections in Kids on Dialysis
Infection was once considered a normal part of life for a child on dialysis.
Today, dialysis-related infections at children’s hospitals are so rare, they’re a surprise.
“When we see one now, it’s almost like, ‘how did that happen?’” said Brad Warady, MD, a pediatric nephrologist who established the dialysis and kidney transplant programs at Children’s Mercy Kansas City in 1985.
It’s been nearly 600 days since his team has diagnosed a blood stream infection in one of the patients receiving hemodialysis (HD) in their unit.
That radical shift didn’t come from new technology or breakthrough research. It came from 57 children’s hospitals choosing to solve the same problem together through a Children’s Hospital Association collaborative.
Since the start of the Standardizing Care to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric End-stage Kidney Disease Collaborative (SCOPE) 15 years ago, pediatric dialysis centers across the country participating in SCOPE have prevented an estimated 2,766 dialysis-related infections and nearly 1,990 hospitalizations. It has also saved more than $55 million in hospital costs.
Read the full blog via Children's Hospital Association