What is peritoneal dialysis and how does it work?
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.
How will I feel when the dialysis solution is inside my belly?
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.
CAPD doesn’t use a machine. You do the exchanges during the day by hand.
You can do exchanges by hand in any clean, well-lit place. Each exchange takes about 30 to 40 minutes. During an exchange, you can read, talk, watch television, or sleep. With CAPD, you keep the solution in your belly for 4 to 6 hours or more. The time that the dialysis solution is in your belly is called the dwell time. Usually, you change the solution at least four times a day and sleep with solution in your belly at night. You do not have to wake up at night to do an exchange.
Automated peritoneal dialysis. A machine does the exchanges while you sleep.
With automated peritoneal dialysis, a machine called a cycler fills and empties your belly three to five times during the night. In the morning, you begin the day with fresh solution in your belly. You may leave this solution in your belly all day or do one exchange in the middle of the afternoon without the machine. People sometimes call this treatment continuous cycler-assisted peritoneal dialysis or CCPD.
Where can I do peritoneal dialysis?
You can do both CAPD and automated peritoneal dialysis in any clean, private place, including at home, at work, or when travelling.
Before you travel, you can have the manufacturer ship the supplies to where you’re going so they’ll be there when you get there. If you use automated peritoneal dialysis, you’ll have to carry your machine with you or plan to do exchanges by hand while you’re away from home.
How do I prepare for peritoneal dialysis?
Surgery to put in your catheter
Before your first treatment, you will have surgery to place a catheter into your belly. Planning your catheter placement at least 3 weeks before your first exchange can improve treatment success.
Although you can use the catheter for dialysis as soon as it’s in place, the catheter tends to work better when you have 10 to 20 days to heal before starting a full schedule of exchanges.
Your surgeon will make a small cut, often below and a little to the side of your belly button, and then guide the catheter through the slit into your peritoneal cavity. You’ll receive general or local anesthesia NIH external link, and you may need to stay overnight in the hospital. However, most people can go home after the procedure.
You’ll learn to care for the skin around the catheter, called the exit site, as part of your dialysis training.
Dialysis training
After training, most people can perform both types of peritoneal dialysis on their own. You’ll work with a dialysis nurse for 1 to 2 weeks to learn how to do exchanges and avoid infections. Most people bring a family member or friend to training. With a trained friend or family member, you’ll be prepared in case you have a sick day and need help with exchanges.
Use a transfer set to connect your catheter to the dialysis solution
A transfer set is tubing that you use to connect your catheter to the bag of dialysis solution. When you first get your catheter, the section of tube that sticks out from your skin will have a secure cap on the end to prevent infection. A connector under the cap will attach to any type of transfer set.
Use dialysis solution as prescribed
Dialysis solution comes in 1.5-, 2-, 2.5-, or 3-liter bags. Solutions contain a sugar called dextrose or a compound called icodextrin and minerals to pull the wastes and extra fluid from your blood into your belly. Different solutions have different strengths of dextrose or icodextrin. Your doctor will prescribe a formula that fits your needs.
What changes will I have to make when I start peritoneal dialysis?
Daily routine
Your schedule will change as you work your dialysis exchanges into your routine. If you do CAPD during the day, you have some control over when you do the exchanges. However, you’ll still need to stop your normal activities and take about 30 minutes to perform an exchange. If you do automated peritoneal dialysis, you’ll have to set up your cycler every night.
Physical activity
You may need to limit some physical activities when your belly is full of dialysis solution. You may still be active and play sports, but you should discuss your activities with your health care team.