Dialysis Research: Types of Dialysis and How they are Performed

The kidneys’ primary function is to remove body waste and excess water from the body. But when the kidneys fail, dialysis performs the function of the kidneys.

Dialysis is a treatment with the aid of a machine to purify the blood in the body. This type of treatment is only an option when the kidneys only perform 10-15% of its normal function.

Dialysis keeps the body running normally at the same time it regulates the level of potassium, sodium, and other blood elements in the body.

With continuous treatment and dialysis research, this can have big potential in changing the lives of dialysis patients’ in the future.

There are different types of dialysis –With our dialysis research, we will be focusing peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis for this article

Peritoneal dialysis

Peritoneal dialysis works by placing a catheter inside the abdomen through surgery. The catheter will help filter the blood through the peritoneum membrane in the abdomen.

During the process, the peritoneal cavity is filled with dialysate which absorbs the waste out of the blood and then is drained from your abdomen. The procedure needs to be done at least 4 to 6 times a week and could take several hours to complete.

There are several different types of peritoneal dialysis and the 3 major types are Intermittent Peritoneal Dialysis or IPD, Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis or CAPD, and Continuous Cycling Peritoneal Dialysis or CCPD. IPD can be performed at home or in the hospital using the same machine used in CCPD.

On the other hand, CAPD is the only treatment that does not require a machine, allowing the treatment to be done at home or work at least 4-5 times/day. This is the DIY dialysis that works by putting a bag of dialysate into the catheter.

Then, the dialysate stays there for a couple of hours before it is drained back into the bag. And as for CCPD, it still uses a machine and the exchange of fluid is done while the patient is asleep.

Hemodialysis

This is the most common type of treatment to remove waste and excess fluid from the bloodstream. The process is done by a doctor who does a minor surgery on the patient’s leg or arms to get one’s blood into the hemodialyzer or the artificial kidney. The filtered blood is returned to the body after the process through the dialysis machine.

The doctor will make an incision as an entrance point to get the blood flow to the artificial kidney by connecting an artery and a vein, AV graft, or vascular access catheter.

But the type of vascular access to be used depends on the patient’s case; short term or long term dialysis.

Hemodialysis treatment usually lasts for 3 to a maximum of 5 hours and is done 3 times a week which can be performed in hospitals, dialysis centers, or in a doctor’s clinic. Also, the length of hemodialysis treatment depends on the severity of the patient’s condition, the amount of waste in the body, and body size.

Dialysis has been used since the 1940s and with the of dialysis research; patients these days can perform the treatment at home.

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