Title

Intradialytic stretching exercise on muscle cramps, fatigue among patients undergoing haemodialysis

Authors

N.C. Sajeer Ali¹, N. Siva Subramanian² & B. Mahalakshmi³,*

Affiliation

¹Department of Medical & Surgical Nursing, Nootan College of Nursing, Sankalchand Patel University, Visnagar, Gujarat, India; ²Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Nootan College of Nursing, Sankalchand Patel University, Visnagar, Gujarat, India; ³Department of Paediatric Nursing, Nootan College of Nursing, Sankalchand Patel University, Visnagar, Gujarat, India; *Corresponding author

Email

N.C. Sajeer Ali - E-mail: sajinckareem@gmail.com
N. Siva Subramanian - E-mail: sn.fn@spu.ac.in
B. Mahalakshmi - E-mail: mb.fn@spu.ac.in

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received September 1, 2026; Revised September 30, 2026; Accepted September 30, 2026, Published September 30, 2026

Abstract

Haemodialysis is a life-saving treatment that steps in when your kidneys can no longer properly filter your blood. It acts as a substitute by removing waste, extra fluid and excess minerals caused by kidney failure. A quasi-experimental study was conducted among 36 haemodialysis patients in Gujarat to assess the effect of intradialytic stretching exercises. The experimental group performed 20 minutes of stretching during dialysis for 20 days, while the control group received routine care. The intervention significantly reduced muscle cramps and fatigue. It also improved activities of daily living as measured by the Barthel Index. Thus, data shows that intradialytic stretching is a simple, safe and effective non-pharmacological nursing intervention.

Keywords

Intradialytic stretching exercise, muscle cramps, fatigue, activities of daily living, haemodialysis, chronic kidney disease (CKD), non-pharmacological nursing intervention

Citation

Ali et al. Bioinformation 22(9): 5893-5897 (2026)

Edited by

P Kangueane

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.