Dialysis

Renal Clinic of Houston

Nephrology located in Katy, TX & Memorial City, Houston, TX

Dialysis takes over the function of the kidneys when you’re in kidney failure. The highly skilled physicians at Renal Clinic of Houston, with offices in Katy, Cypress, Sealy, and Houston, Texas, provide expert care for all stages of kidney disease and help their patients get dialysis treatments when they’re in kidney failure. Renal Clinic of Houston doesn’t offer dialysis at their offices but makes referrals. Call the office nearest you to find out more about dialysis, or schedule a consultation online today.

Dialysis Q & A

What is dialysis?

Dialysis is a medical treatment for kidney failure.

Your kidneys filter waste, fluid, and toxins from your blood and eliminate them through urine. When your kidneys fail, they can no longer perform this function, allowing liquids and toxins to build up in your body, leading to a life-threatening situation.

Dialysis takes over the function of your kidneys, removing waste, fluid, and toxins from your blood, preventing critical complications.

Who needs dialysis?

People who are in kidney failure, also called end-stage renal disease (ESRD), need dialysis.

You can have kidney damage without having kidney failure. However, kidney function may worsen over time, leading to kidney failure. You need dialysis when your kidneys can only perform 10 to 15% of their normal function.

For their patients with chronic kidney disease, the Renal Clinic of Houston experts monitor kidney function to determine when it’s time to consider dialysis. Then, they refer you to a dialysis center and may have you meet with a vascular surgeon to discuss vascular access (a port that helps with the blood-cleaning process).

What are the types of dialysis?

There are two types of dialysis: hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.

Hemodialysis

Hemodialysis is a machine that removes blood from your body, runs it through a dialyzer to remove fluid and waste, and returns it to the body. Hemodialysis is done at a dialysis center, though you can get small hemodialysis machines to use at home.

You need treatment three days a week on hemodialysis, and each session takes three to four hours.

You need good vascular access in order to have hemodialysis. For their hemodialysis patients, the nephrologists at Renal Clinic of Houston provide vascular access work, monitoring health and function.

Peritoneal dialysis

Peritoneal dialysis uses your peritoneum and a dialysis solution to remove waste and fluids from your blood.

For this type of dialysis, you pour the dialysis solution through a port in your abdomen and leave it in place for up to 90 minutes. The tiny blood vessels in the peritoneum use the solution to clean your blood.

Peritoneal dialysis is done at home. You can do it manually up to four times a day or use a machine that pumps fluid in and out of your body while you sleep.

To find out more about dialysis, call Renal Clinic of Houston or schedule an appointment online today.

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