The Difference Between Peritoneal Dialysis and Hemodialysis

Dialysis is a medical procedure done on an individual whose kidneys have lost the ability to function normally. It is done for patients suffering from end stage renal disease or chronic renal disease until a kidney transplantation is done or the only means of health support for those whom a kidney transplant is inappropriate.

There are two types of dialysis: the peritoneal dialysis and a hemodialysis but both operates under the same principle: the diffusion of solutes and the ultrafiltration of fluids across a semi-permeable membrane.

Diffusion is the movement of water from an area of greater concentration to an area of lesser concentration. Blood flows through one side of the semi permeable membrane while a dialysate travels through the other side. The semi-permeable membrane contains holes of various sizes. Small particles and fluids passed through the membrane while big particles like red blood cells and proteins cannot go through the membrane.

Peritoneal Dialysis

In peritoneal dialysis, the semi permeable membrane of the peritoneum or the abdominal cavity is used. A dialysate enters the body through a hollow tube called a catheter. The peritoneum is filled with tiny blood vessels that continuously supply fresh blood through osmosis and diffusion. The waste materials and toxins from the blood move towards the dialysate. These waste materials are drained out of the body through the catheter and replaced with a fresh dialysate. The whole process will be repeated again and is called an exchange after a prescribe period of time.

There are two types of peritoneal dialysis:

1. Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis - this can be performed by you or with a partner. A sterile plastic tubing and a bag which contains the dialysate is raised over the patient's shoulder ,through the force of gravity the dialysate enters the gravity through the catheter. The dialysate is allowed to stay in the abdomen for a period of time to allow the toxin to diffuse to the dialysate and then is drained out to an empty plastic bag.

The exchanges between the fresh and drained dialysate takes place four to five times a day.

2. Continuous Cycling Peritoneal Dialysis - a machine called a cycler is used in this procedure. A cycler circulates the dialysate solution inside the peritoneum at a fixed interval during the night. The exchanges happened during the night while an individual is sleeping and a cyler tubing is attached to the peritoneal catheter. At day time, a fresh supply of dialysate is infused into the abdomen and the individual can be free to perform his activities for the day.

Hemodialysis - in hemodialysis blood is pumped out of the body by a hemodialysis machine. The blood passes through a dialyser which serves as a filter. Inside the filter are semi-permeable membrane where toxins can passed through and become a part of the liquid solution called the dialysate. The clean blood is then returned to the body.

My Ray of Hope

I've cried buckets of tears the day I've found out about my father's end stage renal disease.

I knew that either we'll have the kidney transplantation or it's a lifetime of dialysis for my dad.

My mind was tired trying to figure out how to raise a million pesos for the kidney transplant. I even thought of selling our house.

With kidney transplant still an unreachable goal - I focused my attention on how to stretch our budget to accomodate my father's dialysis and medications.

I surfed the internet looking for information about dialysis.

I've learned that there are two kinds of dialysis - peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis.

I'll explain the difference between the two in my next post.

It occured to me that peritoneal dialysis might be cheaper than hemodialysis because it's a procedure that can be done at home and can be performed by a trained member of the family. Unlike hemodialysis which is done either in a hospital or clinical facilities with doctors and nurses. And since I'm a medical technologist, I would be qualified to do peritoneal dialysis for my dad.

We talked to my aunt about our decision to have peritoneal dialysis and since she's a physician she talked to some of her surgeon friends if anyone of them can perform the operation of putting a peritoneal catheter for my dad for free. My good aunt even told us that she's going to help us with all of my father's expenses.