Every year in India, over 130,000 patients receive dialysis. With the improvement in healthcare facilities throughout India, the number is expected to increase by 232 per million population/year. Maintenance hemodialysis requires the patient to visit the hospital at least twice a week. Because of the recurrent nature of hemodialysis in chronic kidney disease patients, affordability becomes a crucial factor.
Dialysis is indicated when one develops end-stage kidney disease or kidney failure. In kidney failure, one’s kidneys are unable to filter the blood clear of the uremic toxins (waste products like urea, creatinine and acids).
Dialysis keeps your body in balance by:
- Removing toxins, waste products, salt & excess water from the body
- Maintaining the balance of certain chemicals like potassium, sodium, and bicarbonate
- Keeping blood pressure in control
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 toxins, electrolytes (potassium, bicarbonate) & excessive fluid from the body. 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 AV fistula. In case the fistula is not made, the doctor uses a plastic tube to complete the process called the AV graft. Two of the most important benefits of in-centre dialysis are Trained, Experienced kidney care professionals administer treatment and there is an opportunity to interact with other patients and staff. It requires a patient to spend at least 3 to 4 hours (at least twice a week), at the centre to undergo dialysis, during which they can read, watch television, use a laptop, talk to others, etc.
- Peritoneal Dialysis is a type of dialysis where one’s blood gets cleaned with the help of a specialized fluid kept inside the abdominal cavity. Here the doctor does surgery to insert a plastic tube (called a catheter) to your belly and makes a Then through a catheter, the abdominal area gets filled with dialysate fluid, and excess fluid and wastes are then extracted out of the blood into the dialysate via diffusion, filtration and convection gradients. It significantly differs from hemodialysis in the way it filters blood. The lining of the abdomen – it’s called peritoneum and hence the name peritoneal dialysis which acts as a filter and removes waste products from the blood. After a set period of time, the fluid with the filtered waste products is emptied out of the abdomen.
Peritoneal dialysis can be done at home, work or even while travelling. Peritoneal dialysis requires the patients to care for themselves or they need a reliable caregiver.
Dialysis Tips during COVID
Contact the dialysis department before coming to the dialysis centre and tell us if you have any of these dangerous symptoms s/o COVID 19 infection:
- Recent onset fever
- Sore throat
- Cough
- Shortness of breath/dyspnea
- Running Nose
- Myalgia/body ache, fatigue
- Diarrhoea
- H/O overseas travel or contact with a person who has travelled abroad over the last 14 days
- Try to reach the dialysis unit alone without any attendant and preferably use a personnel vehicle for transport.
- All patients wait outside the dialysis unit until they receive specific instructions from the unit staff.
- Maintain appropriate social distancing while waiting for dialysis.
- Patients with symptoms of respiratory tract infection should put on a face mask before entering the screening area and keep it on until they leave the dialysis unit. Our dialysis unit will make sure an adequate stock of masks is available in the screening area to provide to the patients and accompanying persons if necessary.
- Patients should wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, using a proper method of hand washing.
- Patients should follow cough etiquettes, like coughing or sneezing using the inside of the elbow or using tissue paper.
- Suspected or positive COVID-19 patients should properly wear a disposable three-layer surgical mask throughout dialysis duration and should be preferably dialyzed in isolation.
Narayana Superspecialisty Hospital, Gurugram has a state-of-the-art dialysis unit, with an online R.O system. A great amount of effort and detail has gone into formulating infection control guidelines, adequate infrastructure, and hiring highly trained paramedical staff to make this centre one of the best dialysis units in Gurugram.
- A total of 18 HD machines. Separate machines for
- Serology negative patients
- HEMODIAFILTRATION machines
- Hepatitis C positive patients
- Hepatitis B and HIV positive patients in an isolation unit
- Separate and well-differentiated time slots for both outpatients and inpatients
- Facility for SLED; immunoadsorption and plasmapheresis; separate CRRT machine in ICU
- Dialysis facility addressing the need of patients of all age groups especially children & elderly
- 24X7 services
- A well-knit automated appointment providing system
- A facility is empanelled with all major insurances and TPAs, Government of Haryana, ECHS and offers Cashless Medical Facilities to CGHS Beneficiaries
- Soundproof Treatment Rooms
Dr. Sudeep Singh Sachdev | Clinical Lead & Senior Consultant | Nephrology & Kidney Transplant | Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Gurugram