Fuerteventura hospital studies exercise during haemodialysis
Early results from 17 patients suggest benefits from supervised exercise during dialysis, but researchers say larger studies are needed.
Fuerteventura General Hospital is studying whether exercise during haemodialysis can help patients maintain their strength and muscle. An initial assessment of 17 patients after six months found improvements, although the researchers caution that the results need confirmation in larger studies.
Patients receiving haemodialysis attend the hospital three times a week for sessions lasting around four hours. During that time, they remain almost immobile, which can contribute to inactivity and the loss of muscle mass and strength.
To counter this, the hospital’s haemodialysis unit offers a nurse-supervised exercise programme twice a week. Patients pedal using an exercise cycle placed at the foot of the bed and perform strength exercises with elastic bands. The exercises are adapted to each patient and protect the arm used for vascular access.
What the early results show
The hospital’s nephrology service and haemodialysis nursing team are running the research project, led by nephrologist Avinash Chandu Nanwani. Their assessment combines ultrasound scans of muscle and abdominal fat with bioimpedance, a measure of body composition, and hand-grip strength tests. It also uses validated scales to assess frailty, sarcopenia, nutrition and quality of life. Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle mass and strength.
Among the 17 patients who completed the first six months of follow-up, the assessment detected improvements in measures of frailty, sarcopenia and nutritional status, as well as muscle mass and function. Ultrasound also showed an increase in the rectus femoris, a thigh muscle.
Chandu Nanwani said the findings were preliminary and would need to be confirmed in larger studies. He added that the assessment showed how the unit could measure each patient’s response to exercise.
The next phase is expected to include more patients, a comparison group and a year of follow-up. The project has also recently received a research grant from the Las Palmas Medical Association Foundation.
The hospital’s haemodialysis unit
The unit began operating on 26 October 2005 and now has 20 haemodialysis stations. It has treated 54 patients on its chronic haemodialysis programme in 2026.
In 2025, the unit carried out 8,154 haemodialysis sessions for 51 patients. It has carried out 3,858 sessions so far in 2026.