Introduction Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a form of home-based kidney replacement therapy (KRT) used to treat patients suffering from kidney failure. Small solute and fluid removal are achieved using diffusion and convection across the peritoneal membrane, enabled by PD solutions.…
Peritoneal dialysis (PD) cyclers were initially designed for intermittent PD to perform many frequent and short dialysis exchanges within a hospital setting. Following the introduction of continuous cycling PD (CCPD) and variations thereof, the cycler underwent modifications that allowed a…
Dialysis Adequacy for Patients Receiving Peritoneal Dialysis A major goal of dialysis therapy is to restore patients to their previous quality of life. For most patients, the objective is to eliminate uremic symptoms, such as poor appetite and fatigue. This…
Overview of Vascular Access Infections In 2017, in the United States, there were more than 468,000 prevalent and 108,000 incident hemodialysis patients. Provision of hemodialysis requires direct access to a large vein to enable venous blood to be pumped through…
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…