What is Hemodialysis?
When is Hemodialysis used?
About 1.7 million patients worldwide depend on long-term renal replacement therapies. The number of such patients worldwide is rising by about 6% annually. Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are experiencing even higher proliferation rates of up to 10%. Hemodialysis and acute dialysis belong to the category of extracorporeal blood purification techniques, hemodialysis being the most widely used form of therapy with an incidence of 89%.
Hemodialysis is an extracorporeal blood purification technique used for patients who suffer from chronic renal insufficiency and are not able to receive a kidney transplant. As an alternative to hemodialysis, chronically ill patients can also receive peritoneal dialysis. By contrast, patients suffering from acute kidney failure usually receive acute dialysis.
What is Hemodialysis?
Hemodialysis is a therapy in which the patient's blood is treated outside the body. The therapy is usually performed 3 times, in rare cases just 2 times weekly at a dialysis center or at home. With a possible duration of 3-8 hours, the therapy usually lasts about 4 hours. The patient requires a
vessel access mechanism from where the blood is removed via a bloodline system with the help of a dialysis machine, routed through a
dialysis filter, cleaned and supplied back to the patient. The therapy restores the blood's renal values (toxins, electrolytes, etc.) to the normal levels, enabling the patient to spend at least two days without any further treatment. In addition to dialysis, the patient is reliant on medicinal treatment and must observe dietary recommendations.
When is Hemodialysis used?
The medical indication for the application of dialysis is terminal renal insufficiency. The renal functions of such patients have degenerated to an extent requiring renal replacement therapy or kidney transplant. Renal replacement therapy can be performed using a number of techniques such as peritoneal dialysis (PD), hemodialysis (HD), hemofiltration (HF) and hemodiafiltration (HDF). In most countries, hemodialysis is the preferred techniques and hence widely used. The dialysis technique ultimately best suited to the individual patient depends on medical as well as social indicators.