Kidneys are two bean-shaped organs that help clear and filter the blood from toxins, excess fluids and waste in the form of urine and support overall fluid and mineral balance in the blood. In case of kidney failure, these functions are no longer performed by kidneys and if left untreated, this will be life-threatening.

Dialysis is a treatment required when you develop end-stage kidney failure. In kidney failure, your kidneys do not carry the regular body functioning.

Dialysis keeps your body in balance by:

Removing toxins, waste, salt & excess water from the body
Maintaining the balance of certain chemicals like potassium, sodium, and bicarbonate
Keeping blood pressure in control

Symptoms of Kidney Failure

Possible symptoms of kidney failure include:

Reduce in urine production
Swelling in ankle, legs, feet
Unexplained shortness of breath
Extreme Fatigue
Persistent Nausea and many more

What are the different types of dialysis?

There are two kinds of dialysis – hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.

Hemodialysis is a type of dialysis where an artificial kidney (called hemodialyzer) helps to remove toxic, water & excess fluid from the blood. For this, the doctor needs to do a small surgery in either leg or arm, to get access to your blood vessels. Sometimes, the access is also made by joining an artery to a vein under the skin called the fistula. In the case where the fistula is not made, the doctor uses a plastic tube to complete the process called the graft.

Peritoneal Dialysis is a type of dialysis where your blood gets cleaned inside your body. Here the doctor does surgery to insert a plastic tube (called catheter) to your belly and make access. Then through a catheter, the abdominal area gets filled with dialysate fluid and excess fluid and waste are then extracted out of the blood.