| Author | Subject: faster dialysis? |
| Andy Stahmer | Posted At 19:34:07 06/03/2003 I was just curious...IF I were to win a FEW lotteries and money was NO problem, could I have a fistula put in EACH arm, then buy two hemodialysis machines and do dialysis through each arm on a different machine? Wouldn't I only have to dialyize 2 hours (opposed to my normal 4 on ONE machine) 3 days a week? I realize I'd have to figure out somewhere else to monitor my BP, and for fluid removal I'd have to set each machine to HALF my goal (so I wouldn't get sucked dry!) I'm sure the average person (like myself...but I can dream, right?) could never afford this (and I know medicare would NEVER PAY!) but again, if money was not a problem, could it be done? Have they ever done studies on this?? Just curious....Andy |
| Beth Witten | Re: faster dialysis? (Currently 0 replies) Posted At 23:00:06 06/09/2003 Actually some clinics have tried a variation on this. They've hung two dialyzers on one machine. A study by Fritz, Doss, McCann and Wrone called "A comparison of dual dialyzers in parallel and series to improve urea clearance in large hemodialysis patients" in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases in May 2003 (p. 1008-1015) said that in large patients (nearly 100 kg) who couldn't get good enough dialysis with one dialyzer, using two dialyzers in series or in parallel helped 83% get adequate dialysis. The authors also estimated over $1,200 in savings annually due to fewer hospitalizations in spite of having the expense of the extra dialyzer. Sorry, but it didn't look like times were cut. Another option that is gaining interest is daily hemodialysis. Patients do dialysis daily for a couple of hours each treatment. Right now Medicare does not pay for more than 14 treatments a month so clinics that are doing this are usually non-profit ones. There is a National Institutes of Health study that will be testing whether daily or nightly hemodialysis (both are usually done at home) are cost effective -- although they cost more in supplies, they appear to save money in hospitalizations and medications. |