The effect of intradialytic exercise on cardiac outcomes in hemodialysis patients

Background and Aims Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death of hemodialysis patients, accounting for 42% of all deaths. Because exercise can reduce many risk factors of cardiovascular disease in these patients, we observed the effect of intradialytic exercise on left ventricular structure and function. Method A randomized controlled trial was used. Participants were randomly divided into control group and exercise group. Among them, the exercise group carried out intradialytic aerobic and resistance exercise for 3 months, 5-6 times every two weeks, according to their dialysis frequency. The left ventricular end-diastolic volume, mass and ejection fraction were measured by echocardiography before and 12 weeks after the intervention. (ClinicalTrial registration number: NCT05718765). Results At first, 60 people were recruited and completed the baseline assessment (30 people in each group). The average age of patients in the intervention group was 47.81-11.76 years old, and the average hemodialysis vintage was 17.23-3.09 months. There were 18 men in total. The average age of patients in the control group was 48.56-16.83 years old, and the average hemodialysis period was 17.67-2.83 months. There were 25 men in total. Before the intervention, the two groups of patient indicators were balanced, and the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Finally, 53 patients completed the trial protocol (27 control group and 26 exercise group). After 3 months of intervention, there were significant differences in left ventricular mass, left ventricular end diastolic volume and left ventricular ejection fraction between the two groups (P<0.05). Moreover, the cardiac outcomes of the intervention group were lower than those of the control group, as shown in Table 1. Conclusion The exercise for 3 months can effectively reduce the left ventricular mass and significantly improve the left ventricular function and structure of hemodialysis patients. This will help to improve the research and development of exercise on cardiac in hemodialysis patients.