Noninfectious complications of hemodialysis vascular access are associated with higher morbidity and can be life-threatening. The resulting interruption in the dialysis schedule with inadequate hemodialysis therapy decreased sense of well-being, and overall poor quality of life can lead to frustration…
The Role of Central Venous Access In the United States, more than 5 million central venous catheters (CVCs) are placed every year, translating to more than 15 million days of treatment with CVCs for different purposes. CVCs are useful tools…
Introduction The delivery of hemodialysis (HD) therapy for a patient with an arteriovenous (AV) vascular access is dependent on successful vascular access cannulations. A typical in-center HD patient requires routine cannulation for 156 treatments per year. Despite the high frequency…
Introduction It is well established that dialysis cannot be provided without access; while this should not be taken for granted, such access can be achieved in a majority of cases. In contrast, the attainment and maintenance of a single reliable…
Introduction Home hemodialysis has been available as a modality of kidney replacement therapy since the 1960s. The interest in home hemodialysis has been increasing over the past years because of its flexibility and benefits (which will be further discussed in…
Introduction Dialysis is the semi-selective removal of solutes from a solution by diffusion across a semipermeable membrane. It was first used in vitro by Thomas Graham in 1861 to separate ions from macromolecules in a colloidal solution. Early in the…
Introduction Conventional hemodialysis (HD) is based on diffusive transport of solutes across a semipermeable membrane and is effective in removing water-soluble small-molecular-weight (MW) solutes and electrolytes. The removal of solutes with larger molecular sizes, such as phosphate and β 2…
Introduction Hemodialysis (HD) treatments are performed millions of times per year and offer a life-saving and life-sustaining therapy. Technological advances in the delivery of HD have occurred over the past 70 years and these have been supplemented with enhanced patient…
Introduction During intermittent hemodialysis and continuous kidney replacement therapies (CRRTs), blood is continuously flowing between the patient’s vascular access and the dialyzer. This extracorporeal circuit exposes blood to surfaces with variable degrees of thrombogenicity. Clotting of the circuit, specifically the…
Hemodialysis monitors include machines, devices, protocols, and personnel. The major goal is to ensure patient safety during the hemodialysis procedure. All tasks that check, observe, keep track of, and control the hemodialysis treatment is monitoring procedures. These important tasks are…