Nephrology

The Department of Nephrology provides diagnosis, treatment and management of acute and chronic at any stage from acute to chronic. The department offers comprehensive and holistic care to kidney patients, which includes education, and counselling too.

• Acute Kidney Disorders
• Chronic Kidney Diseases
• Kidney failure
• Kidney Stone
• Urinary tract infections
• Cardio renal issues
• Amyloidosis
• Diabetic kidney disorder
• Electrolyte disorders
• Glomerulonephritis
• Hypertension (chronic hypertension)
• Other kidney diseases like rheumatology and kidney disorders

Dialysis

Dialysis is a treatment that does some of the things that are done by healthy kidneys. It is needed when the kidneys have been damaged and are not able to carry out their normal functions. As a result, there is a retention of waste products in the body along with salt, water and other chemicals. This may happen during a temporary failure of the kidney (a renal function) and when there is permanent damage (chronic renal failure).

Dialysis does the following

• Removes waste products, salt and extra water so that their levels may not increase in the body.
• Keep a safe level of certain chemicals in the blood such as sodium, potassium and bicarbonate.
• Control blood pressure.
• The department offers both types of dialysis Hemodialysis & Peritoneal Dialysis:
  • Hemodialysis – an artificial kidney (dialyser) is used to remove waste and extra chemicals and fluids from the body. In this dialysis, blood flows out of the body to the artificial hemodialysis through an access (entrance) made in the blood vessels by the doctor. The blood is returned to the body after cleaning through the same access. Vascular access is created by the doctor by inserting a tube (catheter) into a vein in the neck or below the collar bone or in the groin. These catheters are used in emergencies or if a permanent vascular access like an AV Fistula has not been created. (Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is a surgically created connection between an artery and vein. The veins on the upper extremities usually, develop in about 6-8 weeks and can be used for placement of needles to remove or return blood to the body). In dialysis, impurities are removed from the blood through the membrane into a solution (dialysate) and pass out to the drain. At the same time, substances required are kept in the blood at optimal levels. A hemodialysis procedure lasts from 3-4 hours and is carried out 2-3 times in a week. The prescription for your dialysis is determined by the Physician. He will consider how well your kidneys are working, how much fluid weight you have gained between treatments, how much waste you have in your body etc.
  • Peritoneal Dialysis - in peritoneal dialysis the blood is cleaned within the body. A tube (peritoneal catheter) is placed in the abdomen (belly) to make an access (entrance). The belly is filled with a dialysate fluid and purities and extra fluid are drained out of the blood from the blood vessels that are present in the lining of the peritoneal cavity. Benefits of dialysis

Dialysis removes the accumulated waste products, fluids and water from the body that have been accumulated because of failed kidneys. They also normalize the levels of certain important chemicals such as sodium, potassium and bicarbonate. However, dialysis does not carry out all the functions of the kidney (do a laundry job) and hence certain other medications such as Erythropoietin and Vitamin D may not be prescribed.

Risks

Hemodialysis – risks associated with placement of temporal vascular access (catheters).

• Bleeding
• Injury to neighbouring structures such as arteries, and plura (cover of lungs) (causing accumulation of air in the cavity outside the lungs).
• Infection
• Accidental removal of the catheter
• Technical failure eg. Blockage of the catheter

Permanent catheter

• Technical failure eg. Poor quality artery of vein
• Infection
• Bleeding

Complications from hemodialysis

• Fall in blood pressure
• Cramps
• Fever
• Irregular heartbeat
• Other rarer complications include the destruction of red blood cells (hemolysis) or the lowering of oxygen in the blood.

Peritoneal catheter

• Technical failure (displacement of catheter or block of catheter).
• Infections

Procedure risks

• poor drainage
• leak of fluid into the chest or outside the peritoneal cavity
• infections