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SUMMARY Background Starting dialysis in a non-planned manner or in a ‘suboptimal’ manner is a frequent situation in dialysis centres, even for patients with a regular nephrology follow-up. Unplanned dialysis initiation can be defined as a patient beginning dialysis with no functional vascular access or peritoneal dialysis catheter. These patients start haemodialysis with a temporary catheter, frequently converted to a tunnelled catheter pending native fistula creation or whilst waiting for fistula maturation. In this case, conventional in-centre haemodialysis (ICH) is more frequently used than peritoneal dialysis (PD) or home haemodialysis (HHD). Review findings This review found that patients who start dialysis in an unplanned way are significantly older and have more heart and peripheral vascular diseases. Home-based dialysis therapies showed better outcomes than ICH (PD for the first two to three years and HHD for the long-term). Recommendations This review proposes a paradigm shift in the initial form of dialysis offered to new patients starting dialysis in an unplanned way. Even if they require a temporary catheter, it is possible for them to receive a pre-dialysis education programme (PDEP). The PDEP should be based on both individualised information session(s) given by an experienced nurse to the patient and family and therapeutic education (educative diagnosis, individualised and group session(s)) in order to relieve anxiety and promote home modalities.