Dialysis Center

Kidneys act as a filter house in our body. The main function of kidneys is to flush out the toxins from our bodies. Two kidneys filter 200 litres of fluid every 24 hours.

What is the use of kidneys?

The kidneys are vital supporting organs and they help to keep the blood pure and chemically balanced. Kidneys help in:

• Filtering the blood to remove the waste products
• They maintain the electrolyte and water content in the body.
• They secrete necessary hormones like ‘renin’. Renin helps to keep the blood pressure normal.

What can be done if kidneys fail?

If your doctor feels that your kidneys are not functioning properly, then depending on the percentage of the kidneys that are damaged, the doctor will suggest a further course of action. The following course of action can be suggested:

• Diet management
• Injection of EPO every week
• Dialysis
• Kidney transplant

What are the warning signs that indicate something is wrong with our kidneys? Blood tests that measure eGFR (Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate) measures the level of kidney function. It helps us to determine the stages of kidney disease.

What are the Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)?

Source

When is Dialysis needed?

Dialysis is needed when you lose about 85 to 90 per cent of your kidney stops functioning. This is indicated by a GFR of <15.

What does dialysis do?

Dialysis helps to keep your body balanced by:

• Removing toxins from the body
• Removing extra salts or water from the body
• Maintaining the proper level of chemicals in your body
• Controls blood pressure

Do the kidneys ever recover?

This depends on a variety of factors like:

• Age of the patient
• Clinical history
• Prevalence of other diseases
• Type of kidney failure
• Lifestyle habits

If it is an acute renal failure then in most of the cases the kidneys recover but in the case of chronic kidney disease, kidneys do not recover and the only way is to do dialysis or a kidney transplant.

Where can dialysis be done?

Dialysis can be done at the following places depending on which type of dialysis you choose.

• At home
• At a hospital
• At a dialysis unit that is not a part of a hospital (we have a dialysis centre in Vadodara)

What are the different types of dialysis?

There are two different types of dialysis.

• Hemodialysis
• Peritoneal dialysis

Hemodialysis

This is the most commonly opted dialysis. In Hemodialysis a dialysis machine is used. A special machine filter called an ‘artificial kidney or dialyzer’ is used to clean the impure blood outside the body. In order to get your blood into the dialyzer, we make short access to your blood vessels and usually it is done in the arm or neck. This needs to be done at the dialysis centre. In Vadodara, at Janvi Multispeciality Hospital, we have a special unit dedicated as ‘Dialysis Centre’ Blood passes into the machine, it gets filtered and then again it is pumped into the body. But this procedure requires time. Generally, each session requires 4 hours of time.

Risks associated with Hemodialysis

• low blood pressure
• anaemia, or not having enough red blood cells
• muscle cramping
• difficulty sleeping
• itching
• high blood potassium levels
• pericarditis, an inflammation of the membrane around the heart
• sepsis
• bacteremia, or a bloodstream infection
• irregular heartbeat
• sudden cardiac death, the leading cause of death in people undergoing dialysis

Peritoneal Dialysis

While Hemodialysis attempts to filter outside the body, Peritoneal dialysis attempts to clean the blood inside the body. This is done by inserting a tube called a ‘catheter’ into your abdomen to create access. During the treatment, the abdominal area is slowly filled with dialysate with the help of a catheter. Thereafter the blood stays in the arteries and veins that line your peritoneal cavity/abdominal cavity. The extra fluid and the waste products are drained out into a dialysate. The reason why we use the abdomen(the peritoneum) as the filter is that the peritoneum contains many tiny vessels that help in filtering the blood.

Two Types of  Peritoneal dialysis:

Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD):

CAPD is a ‘Continuous and machine free process’. With it, you can carry on your normal activities. In this treatment, nearly two quarts of cleansing fluid is placed into your belly and later it is drained. This process is done gradually. It is done by hooking up a plastic bag of cleansing fluid to your shoulder level. The gravitational force pulls the fluid into the belly. The only problem is that this process needs to be done four or five times a day for almost 40 minutes.

Automated Peritoneal Dialysis (APD)

In the case of CAPD you have a cleaning fluid pumped into your belly to clean the blood whereas in APD it is the machine- first delivers and later drains the cleaning fluid. It is usually done overnight.

Risks associated with Peritoneal dialysis include:

• abdominal muscle weakening
• high blood sugar due to the dextrose in the dialysate
• weight gain
• hernia
• fever
• stomach pain

Tips for choosing a dialysis centre

Depending on your health conditions, dialysis is going to be a long term and costly affair. So you should choose a dialysis centre wisely. You can choose a dialysis centre after considering the following points:

• The location from your place
• Paying a personal visit to the place to judge about the cleanliness protocols that it follows
• The mode of transport
• The permissibility of your nephrologists visiting the dialysis centre
• Available schedules
• Cost per sitting

At Janvi Multispeciality hospital, we offer guided dialysis treatments at a very reasonable cost and you can rest assured about the cleanliness because we already have a multispeciality hospital so cleanliness is our top priority. Ours is the best dialysis centre in Vadodara which offers treatment at a reasonable cost.