Kidney Institute closes dialysis center after 44 complain of chills

The National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) is investigating why some patients experienced chills while undergoing dialysis last week, complaints that led to the temporary closure of its out-patient hemodialysis center.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, NKTI officials said they had yet to determine what caused the condition shared by 44 patients, as an assessment of the processes and machines being used at the center was still in progress.

“We’re still trying to determine the cause of the problem so we shut down the production line. It’s hard to speculate,” NKTI executive director Dr. Jose Dante Dator told reporters.

According to Dr. Romina Danguilan, NKTI deputy director for medical education and head of the hemodialysis unit, they were looking at several possible factors that may have caused their patients to experience chills.

“When we stopped operations, we started to look at all our processes; we started to culture all the water sources, disinfectants; we checked the processes, dialyzer and filters. We did a special test to determine if there were bacteria in the machines, etc.,” she said.

“We have the initial results of the tests but we have to wait for five days before we get the final result. All of these things take time,” she added.

Danguilan said they were also looking at the patients’ possible allergic reaction or dialyzer reuse. According to her, some people, especially those undergoing dialysis for the first time, do experience chills, which is one of the ways a body reacts to changes.

“Some patients may experience chills because it’s their first time to undergo a dialysis or it’s the first time that their blood will be exposed to a dialyzer,” Danguilan explained.

“We’re trying to be careful in addressing the issue but we want to assure the public that our concern is the safety of our patients and we’re now instituting the processes that we established when things like this happen,” Dator added.

According to Danguilan, this was the first time the institute recorded a relatively large number of patients who felt chills at the same time.

“We are closely monitoring the condition of the affected patients, most of whom no longer complained of experiencing chills again,” she said.

The 44 patients who complained of chills were transferred to other dialysis facilities within Metro Manila, Dator said. The NKTI accommodates about 120 patients a day.

While the transfer may have caused some inconvenience to several patients, Dator explained that it would have been much worse if the doctors allowed the procedure to continue.

Inpatients of NKTI, meanwhile, continued to undergo dialysis but with the use of a portable water treatment machine. The NKTI has 31 hemodialysis machines for outpatients and 12 for inpatients.

Danguilan said they expect the get results of the investigation next Monday.

Dator assured patients that they had done all the necessary precautions, including a thorough systems checkup. “We also took the opportunity to [conduct] maintenance work. When we resume operations, it’s like we have a brand new center again.”

The NKTI officials said the hospital would reimburse the additional expenses incurred by patients who had to undergo a blood culture procedure following the incident. An express lane at the NKTI Public Information Office would be opened to attend to those affected.