Home hemodialysis is a type of renal replacement treatment (RRT) in which a kidney patient uses a dialysis machine at home to run his or her blood through a filter and cleanse it. This allows you to have more frequent dialysis treatments at your leisure, giving you more control over your treatment. Hemodialysis can be done at any time of day or night.
Hemodialysis can be performed at home or in a hospital (in-centre); here are the benefits and drawbacks of each:
- In-Centre Hemodialysis
In-centre hemodialysis is when a patient receives hemodialysis treatments at a dialysis center. Hemodialysis is a procedure that filters waste and surplus fluid from the blood when the kidneys are no longer able to do so.
- Advantages
- A team of trained medical professionals oversees dialysis care.
- Treatment, labs, and patient evaluation all take place in the same facility.
- The patient can unwind by reading, watching television, or socialising with other patients and employees at the dialysis centre.
- Disadvantages
- Patients are required to travel to the centre for treatment.
- Treatment times may be rigid and time-consuming.
- Because treatments are given three times a week, the patient must adhere to a strict diet and limit fluid consumption in between sessions.
- During treatment, patients may have minimal privacy.
- Home Hemodialysis
House hemodialysis (HHD) is the provision of hemodialysis at a person's own home to purify the blood of someone whose kidneys aren't performing normally. One advantage of performing dialysis at home is that it can be done more regularly and gently, reducing the "washed out" feeling and other symptoms induced by rapid ultrafiltration, and it can often be done at night, while the individual is asleep.
- Advantages
- Less medicine is required to keep blood pressure and anaemia under control.
- Less medicine is required to keep phosphorus under control, which aids in the prevention of bone disease.
- The neuropathy (nerve damage) has improved, and there is less restless leg syndrome.
- Less weariness and more energy for day-to-day activities.
- Improved sleep ability
- Reduce the number of hospital stays and make them shorter.
- A longer life expectancy
- Disadvantages
- Patients must be in charge of their therapy at home.
- There is a demand for home dialysis equipment and storage space for supplies.
- During treatments, patients may require the assistance of a trained assistant.
You must initially have dialysis access developed or fixed, regardless of the type of dialysis you choose. This will necessitate a minimally invasive surgical treatment that, in most situations, may be performed safely as an outpatient procedure. The procedure you'll go through will be determined by the type of dialysis access you'll be taking.