Dialysis is one of the ways that helps to cope up with kidney failure. Dialysis is one of the first medical technical advances – and the only procedure that does not require transplantation but enables a long, stable, and active life for a patient with end-stage organ failure. Currently, around 2.4 million people worldwide live on dialysis. Dialysis holds the body in condition by eliminating waste, salt, and excess water and prevents them from building up in the blood and body.  It keeps a safe level of substances such as potassium, sodium, and bicarbonate in the blood at a healthy amount, It helps with blood pressure regulation. There are two types of dialysis done according to patient preference and needs, but it is believed that Peritoneal dialysis is more cost-effective. So let’s discuss what is Peritoneal dialysis and Hemodialysis, and why Peritoneal dialysis is more cost-effective

Hemodialysis

Hemodialysis is done in the dialysis center are hospitals or at home using the machine set-up by the patient and his/her family themselves. In hemodialysis, a dialysis machine is used, that works like the kidneys. During hemodialysis, the blood travels through tubes from your body into the machine in which goes through a filter called a dialyzer, that cleans your blood by removing waste substances and extra fluid. Then, the cleaned blood travels back from the tubes into the body. Your doctor requires access or entry into your blood vessels to get your blood into the dialyzer. Vascular access is called this. To get vascular access, you will need minor surgery before you can begin hemodialysis. Each hemodialysis treatment lasts about 3-4 hours and is done 3 times a week.  

Peritoneal dialysis

A cleaning liquid flows through a tube (catheter) through part of your abdomen during peritoneal dialysis. The lining of the abdomen (peritoneum) serves as a barrier and separates your blood from waste products. The liquid with the filtered waste products flows out of your abdomen after a fixed period of time and is discarded. You may require surgery to insert the dialysate-carrying catheter into and out of your abdomen. Under local or general anesthesia, the insertion might be completed. Usually, the tube is inserted near the bellybutton. Your doctor will generally suggest waiting for up to a month before beginning peritoneal dialysis treatments after the tube is inserted to allow the catheter site time to heal.

Why is the peritoneal dialysis approach more cost-effective than in-center hemodialysis?

Based on the findings of a cost-analysis carried out in Canada, patients who began kidney replacement therapy with peritoneal dialysis were treated more cost-effectively than patients who started in-center hemodialysis. These results indicate that treating patients with a “PD first approach” may result in lower lifetime care costs for end-stage kidney disease patients. Between 2004 and 2013, researchers included 39,318 patients who started Kidney Replacement Therapy (KRT). Investigators used a cost-simulation model to compare costs over a span of 10 years for patients on PD vs. those on hemodialysis. All those specifically related to dialysis (e.g. human resources, consumables and supplies, medicines, and capital expenditure) as well as transplant, infection, and hospitalization costs for treatment of kidney failure were included in the considered costs. Researchers expanded on the model, which they noted is from the health care payer’s viewpoint.