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Kidney Dialysis: Cleaning Your Blood When Your Kidneys Fail

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Kidney Dialysis: Cleaning Your Blood When Kidneys Fail Divakaran Dileep/PhotoSpin

The process of putting fluid in then draining it out again is called an exchange.

In order for you to use PD, your doctor will surgically insert the catheter through the wall of your abdomen, where it can stay for as long as you need PD. Once your catheter is in place, you will be trained so you can give yourself PD treatments at home.

There are two basic types of peritoneal dialysis:

• Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD)

This type of PD allows you to go about your daily activities while dialysis is taking place. You will drain a bag of solution into your abdomen, leave it there for several hours then remove it.

Your doctor will tell you how many exchanges you will need per day to clean your blood using this method. You will not need a machine for this type of PD.

• Continuous Cycler-Assisted Peritoneal Dialysis (CCPD)

This type of PD uses a machine that automatically cycles through three to five exchanges overnight while you are sleeping. You will then typically only need one exchange while you are awake that will last the entire day.

Kidney failure is sometimes permanent, which means you will need dialysis for the rest of your life unless you receive a kidney transplant. But depending on the cause, kidney failure may get better with treatment or if your kidneys have time to rest.

In this case, dialysis may only be needed until your kidneys recover and can resume functioning at acceptable levels.

If you have questions about your kidney function or the type of dialysis that is right for you, talk to your health care provider.

Sources:

National Kidney Foundation. Dialysis. Web. March 11, 2015.
https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/dialysisinfo

Medline Plus. Dialysis: What is Hemodialysis? Web. March 11, 2015.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007434.htm

National Kidney and Urologic Disease Information Clearinghouse. Treatment Methods for Kidney Failure: Peritoneal Dialysis. Web. March 11, 2015.
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/KUDiseases/pubs/peritoneal/index.aspx

Reviewed March 12, 2015
by Michele Blacksberg RN

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Anonymous

Readers should know that 90% of kidney failure can be prevented with the right treatment started early enough. I published my first 3,000 patient-years' results in 2002, but dialysis appears to be too lucrative for anybody in healthcare to want to eliminate it. If you have diabetes or high blood pressure, click on "Contact Us" at GenoMed.com to try to stay off the kidney machine.

March 14, 2015 - 10:51am

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Denise DeWitt
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We value and respect our HERWriters' experiences, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice, although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.