KIDNEY DIALYSIS

TYPES

Three types of kidney dialysis:

• Hemodialysis is the most common form of dialysis. In order to extract excess and unnecessary fluid from the blood, this procedure uses an artificial kidney (hemodialyzer). The blood being expelled from the body and then the artificial kidney will process or filter it. With the aid of a dialysis pump, the purified blood would then be transferred back to the body. 

Your doctor will conduct surgery to set up an entry point (vascular access) into the blood vessels to get the blood to circulate to the artificial kidney.

• Peritoneal dialysis requires surgery to insert a catheter into the abdomen for peritoneal dialysis (PD). The catheter allows the peritoneum, a layer in your belly, to absorb the blood. A specific substance, called dialysate, runs through the peritoneum during surgery. Waste gets absorbed by dialysis that was drained from the belly as soon as the dialysate removes waste from the bloodstream. 

It takes a few hours to do this procedure, done four to six times a day. The exchanging of the patient’s fluids will, however, be carried out either asleep or awake.

• Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) also known as hemofiltration, used in the intensive care unit, especially for patients with acute kidney disease. The blood gets passed through the tubing by a pump. Afterward, a filter extracts waste materials and water. The blood, along with substitute fluid, would be returned to the body. This process normally takes 12 to 24 hours a day.

TREATMENT

Dialysis is a treatment which requires a machine to filter and purify the blood. When the kidneys lose their function, this helps keep the fluids and electrolytes in check. It also helps support the body’s function as normal as possible because the kidneys can not fulfill those tasks due to infection or accident. Without dialysis, the blood can collect salts and other waste materials, poison the bloodstream, and destroy other organs.