The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD) on renal anemia (RA) in renal disease patients by a meta-analysis. Relevant studies published before June 2015 were searched. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to evaluate the effect of HD and PD on RA based on five indexes: hemoglobin, ferritin, transferrin saturation index, serum albumin, and parathyroid hormone. Sensitivity analysis and publication bias assessment were conducted to evaluate the stability and reliability of our results. A total of fourteen eligible studies with 1103 cases underwent HD and 625 cases underwent PD were used for this meta-analysis. There were no significant difference for levels of hemoglobin (SMD = -0.23, 95% CI: -0.74 to 0.28), ferritin (SMD = 0.01, 95% CI: -0.59 to 0.62), parathyroid hormone (SMD = 0.11, 95% CI: -1.53 to 1.75) and transferrin saturation index (SMD = -0.06, 95% CI: -0.67 to 0.56) between HD and PD group. However, the content of serum albumin in HD group was much more than that in PD group (SMD = 1.58, 95% CI: 0.35 to 2.81). Neither of the included studies could reverse the pooled side effect and Egger's test demonstrated no publication bias. Both of the two dialysis strategies have a similar effect on RA in renal disease patients.
Keywords: Peritoneal dialysis; hemodialysis; meta-analysis; renal anemia; renal in end-stage.