Home Dialysis – Renal Replacement Therapy Option

One of the renal replacement therapy (RRT) options for End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) is home dialysis. Both hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis can be performed at home. Home Hemodialysis is performed about 4 times a week via the use of an arteriovenous fistula. Patients are trained to self-cannulate giving them the flexibility and freedom of treatments at home. Peritoneal dialysis is dialysis done using the membrane of the peritoneal space in the abdomen, and is done daily. A surgeon places a soft flexible catheter into the abdomen which is then accessed to place fluid into the abdomen. This fluid stays in the abdomen for a few hours where the fluid and electrolyte exchange occurs. Peritoneal dialysis can be done manually throughout the day or it can be done with the use of a machine called a cycler which performs exchanges throughout the night as you sleep. If you have CKD or ESRD and are already on dialysis, talk to your kidney doctor about home dialysis and if this is right for you.