• Change in prealbumin levels [ Time Frame: 8 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

• Serum albumin, transferrin, nutritional status [ Time Frame: 8 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

25% of hemodialysis patients who are treated for more than 5 years suffer from protein malnutrition. 7% have a protein catabolic rate less than 0,6 g/kgBW and day.

The conventional treatment of malnutrition include dietetic counseling, psychologic advice and giving additional oral nutrients.In many cases this kind of therapy is uneffective. If supplementary enteral nutrition is used, the additional intake of water has to be taken into consideration.

IDPN is a mode of treatment by which disadvantages of enteral nutrition and fluid overload of the patients can be avoided.During each dialysis session nutrients can be given and additional water simultaneously can be removed by ultrafiltration.

Some publications have shown that the catabolic state of the patients can be converted into an anabolic state. There are only small randomized studies showing the positive effect of IDPN.

In this german multicenter study malnourished hemodialysis patients are randomized into two groups. One group is treated with IDPN during each dialysis session for 16 weeks followed by 12 weeks of follow-up without IDPN. The control-group does not receive IDPN.

The parameters of metabolism are: Albumin, prealbumin, transferrin, phase angle alpha (bioimpedance), proteincatabolic rate (formal urea kinetics), BMI and subjective global assessment (SGA score).