Peritoneal dialysis is a treatment for kidney failure that uses the lining of your abdomen, or belly, to filter your blood inside your body. Health care providers call this lining the peritoneum.
A few weeks before you start peritoneal dialysis, a surgeon places a soft tube, called a catheter, in your belly.
When you start treatment, dialysis solution - water with salt and other additives - flows from a bag through the catheter into your belly. When the bag is empty, you disconnect it and place a cap on your catheter so you can move around and do your normal activities. While the dialysis solution is inside your belly, it absorbs wastes and extra fluid from your body.
After a few hours, the solution and the wastes are drained out of your belly into the empty bag. You can throw away the used solution in a toilet or tub. Then, you start over with a fresh bag of dialysis solution. When the solution is fresh, it absorbs wastes quickly. As time passes, filtering slows. For this reason, you need to repeat the process of emptying the used solution and refilling your belly with fresh solution four to six times every day. This process is called an exchange.
You can do your exchanges during the day, or at night using a machine that pumps the fluid in and out. For the best results, it is important that you perform all of your exchanges as prescribed. Dialysis can help you feel better and live longer, but it is not a cure for kidney failure.
You may feel the same as usual, or you may feel full or bloated. Your belly may enlarge a little. Some people need a larger size of clothing. You shouldn't feel any pain. Most people look and feel normal despite a belly full of solution.
You can choose the type of peritoneal dialysis that best fits your life:
The main differences between the two types of peritoneal dialysis are
If one type of peritoneal dialysis doesn't suit you, talk with your doctor about trying the other type.
Our patient educational resources can answer many of your questions including those related to working while on dialysis and what to eat on dialysis. We want to partner with you and provide the information you need for life during dialysis.
We utilize prescription courier service provided by dialysis specialty pharmacy with a round the clock pharmacist to ensure treatment is never compromised and any contraindicative medications.
Nephron Dialysis Centers has eight North Georgia centers in Gwinnett, Walton, Barrow, and Clarke counties.