Technical Management of Hemodialysis

Abstract

Hemodialysis is a therapy by which blood is removed from the patient, run through an artificial kidney called a dialyzer where uremic toxins are removed, and then returned to the patient. Intermittent hemodialysis (IHD) is a renal replacement therapy performed for a set period of time per day, generally three days per week during the maintenance phase of treatment. There are a number of indications for IHD, but in veterinary medicine IHD is used most commonly to treat patients with acute kidney injury or failure. Hemodialysis can also be used to treat patients with chronic kidney disease. Hemodialysis can be used to treat certain toxicities and drug overdoses. A water treatment system is essential to providing a safe hemodialysis treatment with an IHD machine. The extracorporeal circuit used in IHD consists of a blood cartridge, blood tubing, and the dialyzer.