Dialysis Procedure

The focus of the following text will be on haemodialysis, as it is the core of our business.

All about the dialysis procedure

The kidneys filter your blood by removing waste and excess fluid from your body in the form of urine. When your kidneys fail (or perform at only 10 to 15% of their normal function), dialysis is essential for those processes to take place and keep your body operating as normally as possible. There are two types of dialysis:

  • hemodialysis, an extracorporeal therapy where the blood is filtered through an artificial kidney machine outside the body
  • peritoneal dialysis, a treatment that takes place inside the body removing excess waste products and fluid through a catheter placed in the abdomen

The focus of the following text will be on hemodialysis, as it is the core of our business.

How does homeodialysis work?

Dialysis machines are provided with many important features that ensure the proper and safe blood filtering:

  • a blood pump, which delivers blood to the dialyzer at a constant rate (300 - 500 ml/min),
  • a heparin pump, which prevents the blood from clotting,
  • monitors to ensure that the pressures in the extracorporeal circuit are not excessive (arterial, dialyzer inflow and venous pressure monitors),
  • detectors for blood or air leakage,
  • a pump to deliver the dialysate fluid for the exchange of waste product

During hemodialysis, blood is pumped through a hemodialyzer, an artificial semipermeable membrane that mimics the glomerular membrane of the kidney. The metabolic end-products are removed through a diffusion mechanism, based on the different concentration gradients of dialysis fluid (dialysate) and blood. In order to achieve this, a dialysate is delivered to the dialyzers by special pumps. This fluid typically includes electrolytes, like sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, and bicarbonate, but in some cases the nonelectrolyte glucose or dextrose as well.

Due to the difference in concentration of waste in the blood (high concentration) and the dialysate (low concentration), the waste moves through the semipermeable membrane to create an equal amount on both sides. The dialysis solution is then flushed down along with extra fluid, while the purified blood returns back to the body.

A typical dialyzer is made of several thousands of parallel hollow fibers which separate the blood from the dialysis solution. It is biocompatible, the fluids never touch each other, so the process is absolutely safe.

With this in mind, you can rest assured that hemodialysis procedures run smoothly in all of our affiliate clinics across numerous destinations around the world. Book your holiday dialysis with bookdialysis.com now and dialyze with peace of mind.