Hi all! I've got a K with about 6200hrs on it. Last week it was pulled from the floor due to fluctuating high/low tmp alarms while running patients. Checked it out & could'nt duplicate the problem. Today the same tech pulled me out to the floor saying it was doing the same thing. Naturally after standing in front of the machine for ten minutes while a pt. was running, it did'nt alarm once. As soon as I left the floor, she came back & said it was doing it again. I told her just to pull it after the treatment & I'd look at it again.
Any suggestions?

just to be curious since it was the same tech was it the same patient?

You may have calibrated dialysate and venous pressures, also checked deaeration, flow and loading pressures, but didn't mention. Was all in good order?

It can be helpful to troubleshoot a TMP problem while it is occurring. You will find a number of posts discussing how clotting can cause TMP problems.

Dealer is on the money. Any change in Vp (clotting, kinked line, bad stick,movement of access arm,etc.) will change tmp. Remember TMP=Dp=Vp? Not all tmp problems are machine related. Sorry, TMP=Vp+Dp. My bad!

Yeah - if the paitient is a catheter you can easily have tmp problems.

try replacing diasafe filter.

If all the above has been done check the dialysate transducer.

I think Brutus meant to put a minus instead of a plus in his TMP equation.

TMP = venous pressure - dialysate pressure

or

TMP= UFR/KUF

Hope this helps

Your problem is the pct not knowing how to react to TREATMENT ALARMS. Unless a tmp is permanently spiked high or low and the machine fails test, the problem is almost always access/treatment related. Not to be mean, but they don't know what they are doing running the tx.

You could check the hanson o-rings but like everyone said, most likely patient access or something on the treatment side. If it is not doing it constantly its most likely not the machine. It would be nice to know a little more about TMP. A lot of times our nurse/pcts will turn needles, use heperin or something on that order and that seems to take care of it. Sometimes they are just lazy and don't want to deal with it. Check to see if it si doing the same thing on every patient or just the one.