Inpatient Dialysis Treatment in Arizona

Dialysis simply takes over the job of the malfunctioning kidneys. With dialysis, your blood is routed out of your body and through a filter. This removes the waste products and excess fluid that have accumulated. The cleaned blood then exits the filter and reenters the blood vessel.

If you have chronic kidney disease, which doctors characterize as your kidneys not working well for at least three months, you’ll need dialysis or a kidney transplant at some point. As your kidney function continues to deteriorate, lab tests will begin to show toxic levels of waste in your blood. At this point, symptoms, such as nausea, fatigue, swelling, and vomiting, will begin to show themselves. Your quality of life will begin to be adversely affected.

A test called an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) will measure your level of kidney function. Your eGFR is calculated using your blood creatinine test results, sex, age, and other parameters. Your eGFR numbers will help you plan your treatment, including when you’ll need to start dialysis.

At Summit Healthcare, we provide inpatient dialysis. Hemodialysis uses an artificial kidney, known as a hemodialyzer, in place of your malfunctioning kidneys. The dialysis machine and dialyzer are basically a filtration system that removes the waste and fluid from your blood.

Before you can use a hemodialyzer, we need to create an entry point into a blood vessel. We use two types of vascular access for long-term dialysis treatments.

An arteriovenous (AV) fistula connects an artery and a vein under the skin in your arm. This is usually done in your non-dominant arm and it takes about six weeks to heal before it can be used for hemodialysis. After that, an AV fistula can be used for years.

An arteriovenous graft, or AV graft, use a plastic tube to join an artery and a vein under your skin. An AV graft heals in around two weeks, so you can have dialysis faster, but it won’t last as long as a fistula. The risk of infection is also greater with an AV graft.

If you need dialysis very quickly, a catheter can be placed into a neck vein, below the collarbone, or next to your groin. This entry is only meant to be used for a short time.

If you had a sudden kidney injury and shutdown, you may only need dialysis for a short time until your kidneys recovery. But if you have chronic kidney disease the kidneys rarely improve. In these cases, you’ll either need to be on dialysis permanently or you’ll need a kidney transplant.

Once your fistula or graft has been inserted as a port for your dialysis treatments, you should not experience any pain. Even the insertion of the port is only minimally uncomfortable due to the small size of the needle and tube. During your dialysis treatments, you may experience side effects such as cramping, nausea, or dizziness. Your dialysis provider will be in your room for the duration of your treatment. If you develop side effects, let them know. They may adjust your treatment if possible without diminishing the necessary outcome.

Many people who need dialysis are affected by at least one other condition that affects their health. Your care team at Summit Healthcare develops a multidimensional approach that meets your immediate needs in the safest, most effective way possible. Regardless of coexisting medical conditions, your body must have proper kidney function to maintain various important processes. During your inpatient stay, your doctor will discuss each aspect of your treatment plan and answer any questions you have.

Before you’re discharged from MSK, your MSK nephrologist will talk with you about continuing your dialysis treatments. If you need to continue getting dialysis treatments, your Case Manager will help you find an outpatient dialysis center. The Case Manager will give you a list of dialysis centers to choose from and will coordinate your ongoing schedule with the outpatient dialysis center before you’re discharged. If your kidneys recover and you don’t need dialysis anymore, your dialysis catheter will be removed before you go home.

Consuming alcohol puts additional strain on your kidneys to filter out impurities from your body. Not only do the kidneys have to work harder to filter alcohol from your blood, but they must do so in a state of dehydration, which diminishes their efficiency. Seeing that alcohol dehydrates the body at the same time that it adds more for the kidneys to filter, most experts advise against alcohol consumption in cases of kidney disease.

Dialysis takes over for your kidneys. In this way, it works immediately. How long it takes for you to feel better after beginning dialysis treatment will depend on several factors. Generally, patients are expected to start feeling better within a week or two of starting their treatment. Throughout this time, the dialysis treatments continue to filter toxins out of the blood and strengthen other biological functions that support physical well-being.