Dialysis

The dialysis machine is really a 2-part machine, serving two basic functions. First it acts as a blood pump, and second, it pumps a solution known as dialysate. The machine has a very accurate metering system that combines ultra-purified water, bicarbonate, and a potassium "bath" together. The patient is hooked up to the machine via what is known as the extra-corporeal circuit (meaning outside of the body) via two large-bore needles (or a semi-permanent central catheter). The lines go to the machine, and into a pump. No blood actually goes into the machine, but rather stays in the blood tubing. There is a larger diameter section of the line that fits in the blood pump, and the pump moves the blood by squeezing the larger section of the line at regular intervals. The blood comes from the patient through the pump, and into the artificial kidney (the dialyzer). The dialyzer is made of thousands of microscopic fiber tubes. These tubes can be likened to drinking straws that have small holes punched in the sides of the straws. These holes in the fibers are too small to allow the blood cells to pass through (much like a colander will let water out, but not your spaghetti noodles). The dialyzer is hooked to larger hoses that flow the dialysate through the area around the fibers in the dialyzer (usually in the opposite direction from the blood flow), and by pressure and osmosis, the fluid around the cells in the blood that contains the urea (waste) passes out of the blood and into the dialysate and to the waste system (drain). Dialysis is only about 10% to 15% as efficient as a working kidney, so patients need to dialyze frequently (usually 3 times per week or more, usually for 3 to 4 hours per treatment). Also, because of this, their blood levels of essential electrolytes like potassium, calcium, and sodium, as well as phosphorus, vitamins and other essential minerals must be continually monitored because they are lost during dialysis. Additionally, most patients need a drug to stimulate the production of red blood cells. A drug called Epogen is commonly used. It is very expensive, as much as $1000 USD to $2000 USD per shot, usually at each treatment. Many patients can gain 2 to 4 kilograms of fluid weight (4.4 to 8.8 lbs) in only 2 days. Access to the patient is usually gained through what is known as a fistula. A surgeon ties an artery to a vein, and this makes the vessel grow very large, sometimes as large in diameter as a thumb (or larger). This is done because the patient has to have needles inserted every other day as long as they are on dialysis. The machine monitors many parameters such as the blood flow, dialysate flow, arterial and venous pressures, the conductivity of the dialysate solution, the temperature and pressure in the artificial kidney (dialyzer) and will set off an alarm if anything is out of normal parameters.

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The amount of fluid removed is decreased

Yes. Dialysis removes ammonium sulphate since it is tiny than protein polypeptide molecules.

A dialysis machine removes wastes from the body that the kidney usually does. But not as well as the kidney. About 85% of people on dialysis die in three years without a new kidney.

can you get kidney stones while you are on dialysis? my dad gets terrible pains, sometimes lasting for days. someone has mentioned kidney colic, is this possible?

Call his doctor, or talk to someone else who knows the situation well.

Yes, dialysis does require energy. Please refer online to dialysis and blood transfusion. This might help.

all exps. including doctors fee around 5k to 6k

Because it's meant for dwelling within the abdomen cavity (aka peritoneal cavity), it doesn't enter the circulatory system. Parenteral solutions are for intravenous (into the vein) administration.

It appears that a combination of eating less and dialysis has reduced the need for insulin for our father. His glucose level was checked a few times after a meal of 2 cups of sticky rice or other high carbohydrate food. This gives us a baseline to whether the insulin is necessary after a particular meal. So, checking the glucose level, methodically, will help one find their sliding scale. Do check with your doctor and care provider nurses.

So far, I have met one person on dialysis who has become free of insulin shots for a combination of dialysis and the diabetic medication. I have also met another patient on dialysis who came down with pancreas failure.

if you dont have kidneys yes, dialysis does exactly what a normal functioning kidney would do

the better answer would be if a doctor recommended it for you

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Veins. You find bigger veins. There are very large veins in the body and so a doctor will insert a dialysis tube farther into the body where the veins are larger.

Without life-sustaining dialysis or a kidney transplant, once a person with kidney disease reaches Stage 5 (end stage renal disease (ESRD)), toxins build up in the body and death usually comes within a few weeks. Having just cared for a person who voluntarily elected to cease dialysis, and having been present for the last 9 hours of life, I can tell you that renal failure CAN be one of the "easiest" ways to go. In this case, there were several underlying conditions, so the process only took 4 days. The patient became more and more sleepy over time. She fell asleep about 6 hours before death and simply slowed her breathing down until it stopped. Although this was somewhat faster than most cases, the progression was textbook. In some cases a brief period of confusion may exist for the patient as it becomes harder and harder to think as the toxins build up. It would appear that these toxins act to reduce the sensitivity of the brain and it's ability to communicate pain and suffering. This patient was actually able to greatly reduce the amount of pain medications which she had previously been taking as the end neared.

I don't think so, because i conducted my grand mothers dialysis, and the

dialysis company just delivered a whole lot supplies to my house without any prescription whatsoever. These are the 2.5 Dextrose and the 4.25 Dextrose peritoneal solutions. I have a garage full that i would like to get rid of before 2009. Unfortunately my grandmother passed away recently. I have other supplies as well. I am a Paramedic, and was never required to have a prescription to administer Normal Saline or Ringers Lactate.

BVP=BFRxMIN....exp 450(BFR)x 240(min)=108,000 or BVP-108.0

Gooodd luck i have no clue

No. you dont. Also depends on how old you are...

No

often the best treatment option for infants and children. Their small size can make vein access difficult to maintain. It is not recommended for patients with abdominal adhesions or other abdominal defects (like a hernia )

We say we are drawing from the "art" port, but often, it is not arterial blood that is drawn. Unless the person has a dialysis access in their arm, the blood drawn from ports on their chest is actually venous blood. However, for the sake of ease, we label and color the machine lines with red and blue and refer to the lines as the arterial line and the venous line.

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I think you mean Dialysis. Dialysis filters blood in your kidney for you when you go under kidney work or your kidneys doesn't function like its suppose to. You usually can live off of one kidney, but if your last kidney goes out(Kidney Failure) then they can you up to a dialysis machine and filter your kidneys for you. Hope this helps =]