About Dialysis

Dialysis is the medical term for removing waste and extra fluid from the blood that the kidneys can no longer remove.  Inside the dialyzer (artificial kidney), there are two compartments separated by a semi-permeable membrane which separates blood and dialysate.  Through the semi-permeable membrane, the body wastes and extra fluid move from blood to dialysate.  Semi-permeable membrane is a thin surface with tiny holes that lets small particles (like body waste products and excess fluid) pass through, but keeps large particles (like blood cells) in.  Dialysate is made up of many of the chemicals we already have in our bodies.

There are two kinds of dialysis:

• Peritoneal Dialysis (PD): Cleans your blood and removes extra fluid using your body’s own membranes, the peritoneal membrane, as the filter.
  The peritoneal membrane is the lining that surrounds the peritoneal cavity or abdominal cavity, which contains your stomach, spleen, liver, and intestines.
  PD solution is placed in the peritoneal cavity. The peritoneal membrane filters wastes and fluid from your blood into the solution. The solution containing wastes is drained from your peritoneal cavity after a couple of hours and replaced with fresh solution.
  For PD, you would need to have a catheter placed in your abdomen as an access before you can start treatment.
  Lean more about PD, click here.

• Hemodialysis: Cleans your blood and removes extra fluid using dialyzer (artificial kidney). Dialyzer has two compartments (blood compartment and dialysate compartment) separated by a semi-permeable membrane.
  During dialysis, your blood is pulled out of your body, passing through the dialyzer, and then back into your body as part of your blood circulation.
  When your blood is passing through the dialyzer, wastes and extra fluid are removed from your blood to dialysate then drained.
  For hemodialysis, you would need to have a fistula or graft placed as an access before you can start treatment.

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