What is peritoneal dialysis and how does it work?
In this type of dialysis, your blood is cleaned inside your body. The doctor will do surgery to place a plastic tube called
a catheter into your abdomen (belly) to make an access. During the treatment, your abdominal area (called the peritoneal cavity)
is slowly filled with dialysate through the catheter. The blood stays in the arteries and veins that line your peritoneal
cavity. Extra fluid and waste products are drawn out of your blood and into the dialysate. There are two major kinds of peritoneal
dialysis.
What are the different kinds of peritoneal dialysis and how do they work?
There are several kinds of peritoneal dialysis but two major ones are: Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD)
and Continuous Cycling Peritoneal Dialysis (CCPD).
Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) is the only type of peritoneal dialysis that is done without machines.
You do this yourself, usually four or five times a day at home and/or at work. You put a bag of dialysate (about two quarts)
into your peritoneal cavity through the catheter. The dialysate stays there for about four or five hours before it is drained
back into the bag and thrown away. This is called an exchange. You use a new bag of dialysate each time you do an exchange.
While the dialysate is in your peritoneal cavity, you can go about your usual activities at work, at school or at home.
Continuous Cycling Peritoneal Dialysis (CCPD) usually is done at home using a special machine called a cycler. This is
similar to CAPD except that a number of cycles (exchanges) occur. Each cycle usually lasts 1-1/2 hours and exchanges are done
throughout the night while you sleep.
