Dialysis: Types, How It Works, Procedure, Side Effects, Types, Effectiveness

Dialysis is a medical procedure used to remove waste products, excess fluids, and toxins from the blood when the kidneys fail to function properly. It mimics the filtration process of healthy kidneys and helps maintain a balance of electrolytes. In this article, dialysis, the principle of dialysis, types of dialysis, dialysis function, mechanism of dialysis, and dialysis procedure are discussed. Dialysis is a topic of the chapter Excretory Products And Their Elimination in Biology.

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This Story also Contains

1. What is Dialysis?
2. Principle of Dialysis
3. Types of Dialysis
4. Dialysis Function
5. Mechanism of Dialysis
6. Dialysis Procedure

What is Dialysis?

Dialysis is one medical process that performs all the functions of the kidneys if they lose their ability to function productively. Dialysis is referred to as the process of removing any form of waste products and excess fluid from the blood because the kidneys fail to excrete in urine. Dialysis helps patients with kidney failure, and it is a life-saving treatment.

The normal function of dialysis involves the balancing of fluids, electrolytes, and waste products in the body in case of improper functioning of the kidney. It can relieve symptoms of kidney failure and make life better for these patients.

Principle of Dialysis

Dialysis includes the idea of solute dissipation and the ultrafiltration of fluid across a semipermeable membrane. Materials in water that have a propensity to flow against a concentration gradient are said to exhibit diffusion.

Dialysate or other specific dialysis fluids flow on one side of the semi-permeable screen while blood flows on the other. A thin layer of material with holes or pores of varying sizes is called a selectively permeable layer.
Smaller fluids and solutes pass through the layer, but larger substances (such as large proteins and red blood cells) are blocked from passing through by the membrane. This mimics the kidneys' filtering process when blood enters them and the larger chemicals are separated from the smaller ones in the glomerulus.

Also Read:

• Practice MCQ on Dialysis
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Types of Dialysis

The two main types of dialysis are hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. While they purify waste and excess fluid from the blood in essentially the same way, both ways differ in the method and equipment utilised.

Hemodialysis

• Hemodialysis is when blood is filtered by a machine outside the body to remove waste products and excess fluid.

• Blood is withdrawn from the body, then filtered in the dialyser, and then returned to the body.

Components

• Dialyzer: This is the artificial kidney for filtering the waste products in the blood.

• Dialysis Machine: It controls the blood and dialysate flows.

• Vascular Access: The site through which blood would be removed and returned.

Advantages And Disadvantages

• Works well at removing wastes, suitable for a hospital or clinic setting.

• Needs to visit a dialysis centre a few times a week, which tends to cause complications at the access site.

Peritoneal Dialysis

• Peritoneal Dialysis is conducted by using the lining of one's abdomen-(peritoneum) as a no-nonsense filter to take out excess waste products and fluid from the body.

• Fill the abdominal cavity with dialysis fluid; it takes up the waste products and is drained out.

• Dialysis Fluid: Fluid to carry off waste

• Catheter: Tube placed in the abdomen to exchange fluid

• Can be conducted at home, flexible, and independent.

• Prone to infections and involves the installation of a permanent catheter in the abdomen.

Dialysis Function

Dialysis tries to mimic the normal function of the kidneys through a process known as diffusion and osmosis, which leads to excluding excess fluid from the blood and filtering waste products.

• Wastes move from high concentrated amount in blood to low concentrated amount in dialysate through a semi-permeable membrane.

• Excess fluid in the blood moves through osmosis into the dialysate.

• Dialysate – a fluid through which waste products are removed and through which the electrolyte balance is maintained.

• Composed specifically, it draws the waste products out from the blood while replenishing what is necessary.

• Hemodialysis: In hemodialysis, blood is filtered through a dialyzer.

• Peritoneal dialysis: The peritoneum acts as the filter in peritoneal dialysis.

Mechanism of Dialysis

After passing through the dialyser, the arterial blood returns to the body via the vein. When the blood is being sent through the machine, heparin is utilised as an anticoagulant. The hemofilter, which has microscopic channels sandwiched between two cellophane membranes, is where the blood passes through inside the dialyser.

These membranes are permeable. These membranes' outside surface is submerged in dialysate, a dialysing fluid. Fresh dialysate is continuously added to replace the old one. The concentration gradient allows undesirable chemicals from the blood, such as creatinine, phosphate, and urea, to enter the dialysate. The dialysate diffuses into the blood, containing the vital elements the body needs.

The cellophane membranes allow the exchange of nearly all chemicals between the dialysate and blood, with the exception of plasma proteins. Additionally, the dialysis machine contains multiple blood pumps that are equipped with pressure monitors to facilitate the simple transfer of blood from the patient to the machine and back again. Additionally, it features pumps for both the drainage of used dialysate and the flow of fresh dialysate.

Dialysis Procedure

Whenever the kidney capacity drops, the patient has to undergo an appropriate number of dialysis sessions.

Hemodialysis

• A session of withdrawing blood out of the body, passing it through a filter, and again returning it into the body.

• Three times a week, and each session would be roughly about 3-5 hours.

Peritoneal Dialysis

• Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD): These are manual exchanges performed throughout the day.

• Automated Peritoneal Dialysis (APD): These machine-assisted exchanges are usually performed overnight.

• The introduction of dialysis fluid into the abdomen, dwelling, and then draining out from it.

• CAPD requires multiple daily exchanges; APD is usually performed nightly.

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