Summary of Peritoneal Dialysis: At Home Treatment for Kidney Failure | Mass General Brigham

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Peritoneal dialysis is a form of therapy that is designed for the patient to do at home on his or her own schedule. The patient must undergo training with a very experienced dialysis nurse in order to be able to do the therapy on their own. The patient must also have a home visit by the dialysis nurse to make sure the home is safe for the patient to do the dialysis.

• 00:00:00 Peritoneal dialysis is a form of therapy that is designed for the patient to do at home on his or her own schedule. Peritoneal dialysis uses the peritoneum, which is the lining around all of the organs in the abdomen, as a filter. This lining is filled with capillaries or small blood vessels, and the poisons that are normally filtered by the kidneys can be removed across that filter by placing a solution into the abdomen when the patient drains that solution out. There are two forms of peritoneal dialysis: continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis. Peripheral dialysis is usually the preferred option that uses a small machine that sits on a bedside table and over the course of an eight or nine hour period, the machine will do several cycles or exchanges in much the same way that a manual exchange takes place. The fluid this time usually will drain by a long stretch of tubing into the patient's toilet. The setup will usually take the patient about half an hour to set up and usually before bedtime.
• 00:05:00 The video discusses the benefits of peritoneal dialysis and how it can be performed at home. The patient must undergo training with a very experienced dialysis nurse in order to be able to do the therapy on their own. The patient must also have a home visit by the dialysis nurse to make sure the home is safe for the patient to do the dialysis.