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Introduction
The information here is given as a guide only and
patients are advised to seek further information from their own
doctor.
If you have to go onto
Dialysis it is because your kidneys can no longer cope with clearing the normal
toxic waste matters produced by your body. When your kidneys function at lower
than 10 percent of normal capacity you need to go onto dialysis or receive a
kidney transplant.
There are many different causes of kidney failure
and your doctor at the Renal Unit will discuss your particular problem with
you. The symptoms that you may have experienced may
be due to the illness which has caused your kidneys to fail or be due to the
lack of kidney function itself.
As well as Kidney
Transplantation there are two equally effective therapies:-
Haemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis.
Haemodialysis
During haemodialysis the blood is
cleaned by a mechanical filter called a dialyser and returned to the blood
flow. This treatment is carried out 3 times a week and the procedure
takes 4 to 5 hours. You will therefore need to attend the Renal Unit
regularly 3 times a week.
CAPD
With CAPD (Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis) a thin tube, called a
catheter, is surgically implanted into the abdominal wall. Inside your
body the tube hangs down into the abdominal cavity. You will need to drain a
cleaning solution, called dialysate, through the tube 3 or 4 times a day
(having of course first drained off the used fluid which carries the toxic
waste matters away from your body as your kidneys used to do).
Transplantation
Transplantation is the most effective treatment for kidney failure and has a
good success rate, however, not all patients are suitable for transplantation.
If transplantaion is considered suitable for you it may not be easy to find a
donor kidney.
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