Effectiveness and tolerability of sevelamer in the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in hemodialysis patients

Introduction: Hyperphosphatemia is also known as a silent killer among patients with renal failure. Objectives: The objectives of this investigation was to assess the efficiency and tolerability of sevelamer in hyperphosphatemia in Pakistani patients on regular hemodialysis. Patients and Methods: A total of 59 dialysis individuals (age >18 years), from both genders, on regular hemodialysis with phosphate level more than 5.5 mg/dL, not on any phosphate binders was enrolled to the study. All the patients received sevelamer 400 mg orally in a dose depending on their baseline serum phosphorus level. Patients received the treatment for duration of 8 weeks. All the patients were followed and investigated for the efficacy and safety variables on fortnightly basis. Results: The mean (± SD) age of all the enrolled patients was 42.2 (±6.4) years. The mean (±SD) serum phosphorus was reduced significantly to 6.70 (±0.86) mg/dL, 6.00 (±0.64) mg/dL, 5.30 (±0.87) mg/dL and 4.97 (±0.91) mg/dL on day 15 (P Conclusion: Our study showed a significant reduction in mean serum phosphorus and total cholesterol, in patients on hemodialysis. Therefore, sevelamer is a safe drug for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in our clinical settings.