Dialysis is a medical procedure in which excess water and waste matter are removed from a patient’s blood. This practice is most commonly used for individuals who have experienced loss of kidney function and/or kidney failure, and for patients with end-stage renal disease. To put it simply, dialysis is artificial kidney function. There a few different types of dialysis methods; one of the major primary methods is Hemodialysis which is used “when preemptive kidney transplantation is not possible”. (source).
Hemodialysis
This dialysis process acts as the kidneys to remove waste and extra salt and fluid from the blood. Hemodialysis involves the removal of the blood from the body, so that it can be run through a dialyzer, which filters the blood.
The blood is both removed from and returned to the patient’s body through an access, which will either be a vascular access like an AV graft or AV fistula, or through a catheter. Only a small amount of blood is removed from the body at once, and the blood is moved through a series of tubes to the dialyzer.
Traditional hemodialysis is a very regimented treatment. Typically hemodialysis is performed in a dialysis center, and patients receive the treatment three times a week for four hour sessions. Patients will either be placed on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule or a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday schedule, and then scheduled a time of day to receive treatment as well. Due to the fact that the treatment is complex, there is little room for flexibility in terms of schedule. (source)
Home Hemodialysis
However, recent technology advancements have made it possible for some dialysis patients to treat themselves at home with HHD (Home HemoDialysis). This process is absolutely not for everyone, as it involved the learning and comprehension of a great deal of information. The success of home hemodialysis is dependant on the patient (or caregiver’s) knowledge of the treatment.
If home hemodialysis is a safe treatment option for the patient, it allows for more much more flexibility. There are three subtypes of home hemodialysis: Conventional, Short Daily, and Nocturnal.
Conventional home hemodialysis is performed exactly as it would be in a dialysis center. The treatments still take place three times a day, for four hours a day on the alternating day schedule. Training for the conventional practice can be short as several weeks to as long as several months depending on the patient’s specific case.
Short Daily home dialysis is performed more frequently throughout the week, for shorter amounts of time than traditional dialysis sessions. These sessions will last around 2 hours, and take place over as few as 5 days and as long as the full 7 days of the week.
There are a few inherent benefits of this type of treatment. For one, the training time is a few weeks vs a few weeks to months. The frequency of the treatments means less blood is being removed during each session. This means the side effects and symptoms of treatment are lessened.
Nocturnal home dialysis is a much slower process, which takes place over the length of your sleep (6-8 hours). Depending on what the physician recommend, the treatment can be delivered every other night or 6 days a week.
The benefit of the nocturnal treatment is that the longer process allows for more waste to be removed from the blood on a weekly basis.
For resources and more information, please visit the following sites: Kidney.org , UFHealth, NIH.gov
