Peritoneal Dialysis

What is peritoneal dialysis?

Peritoneal dialysis is a treatment for kidney failure. This type of dialysis uses the lining of your abdomen (peritoneum) to filter waste and excess fluids from your blood.

Unlike hemodialysis, which uses a machine to filter your blood outside of your body, peritoneal dialysis filters your blood without the blood leaving your body.

What is involved in peritoneal dialysis?

Before you begin peritoneal dialysis, the kidney specialists at Sun City Kidney, PA place a soft catheter tube inside your abdomen during a surgical procedure. This surgery should take place a few weeks ahead of the start of your treatment. 

You also learn how to complete the dialysis process on your own before treatment starts.

When you begin peritoneal dialysis, you connect the catheter to a bag of filtering solution. The solution flows through the catheter into your belly. When the bag empties, you place a cap on the catheter to keep the fluid inside.

You might feel unusually bloated or full when the solution is inside your abdomen. However, you shouldn’t experience any pain.

While you return to your usual activities, the filtering solution absorbs excess fluids and waste. After a few hours, you reconnect your catheter to the bag to empty the fluids from your belly.

How often do I need to do peritoneal dialysis?

A fresh bag of solution absorbs waste quickly. However, the filtering process slows down. For this reason, you can expect to exchange the bags 4-6 times a day.

You can dispose of the bagged fluids that come out of your body in the sink or toilet and use a new bag of solution for your next treatment. There are also options for nighttime dialysis, which uses a machine to make the exchange of fluids throughout the night.

Before your treatment starts, your provider discusses how long you should let the solution sit in your body and how often you need to make the exchange. While peritoneal dialysis isn’t a cure for kidney failure, proper use of the treatment can ensure you feel good and live a longer life.

To find out if peritoneal dialysis is right for you, call Sun City Kidney, PA today or book a consultation online.