Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) is educating patients with kidney disease about the benefits Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) has to offer when compared to Haemodialysis (HD).

This includes improved quality of life, fewer visits to healthcare centres and an effective bridge to kidney transplantation.

Kidney patients frequently receive Haemodialysis (HD) to treat kidney, or renal, failure and some patients are not even offered PD as an option. HD requires multiple weekly trips to a health centre and long hours undergoing treatment. PD can be done at home by the patient once a catheter has been fitted surgically.

As part of its commitment to delivering integrated care to patients and educating them on the best available treatment options, SEHA Kidney Care (SKC), a facility affiliated with SEHA, provides world-class clinical services across Abu Dhabi, with three state-of-the-art health centres in strategic urban locations and ten clinics within SEHA hospitals around the emirate.

Professor Stephen Holt, CEO of SEHA Kidney Care (SKC), said, "In alignment with SEHA’s patient-centric approach to delivering the best healthcare, we remain committed to providing a consistent level of world-class services to kidney disease patients. We provide services for more than 1,300 patients suffering from kidney disease across the Emirate. Whilst we would ideally like to offer a kidney transplant to all patients with renal failure, some patients may not be suitable for a transplant or may not have a living donor. The number of deceased donors in the UAE is increasing and many people require dialysis treatment to stay well."

Dr. Ayman Al Madani, Chief Operations Officer at SEHA Kidney Care (SKC), added, "Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) is not a new treatment, but there is a need for wider awareness of its benefits. As a patient-driven treatment, PD enables people to carry on with their lives while receiving the necessary therapy. Through measured steps, PD can be done at home by the patient (or a caregiver may help), and does not require frequent visits to a healthcare centre. This enables our patients to carry on with their lives and live more comfortably. In addition to the convenience, it provides continuous dialysis, allowing patients to control extra fluid and blood salts more easily whilst reducing stress on the heart and blood vessels than HD."

Haemodialysis is a way of replacing some of the functions of the kidney by using a machine to filter and clean the blood. Blood is pumped out of the body via a tube in a blood vessel or needles put into a large vein, to the machine where it is passed filtered in an "artificial kidney" or "dialyser". This type of treatment often requires frequent and time-consuming visits to a hospital or clinic, typically three times a week.

PD offers a different approach. A soft plastic tube, or catheter, is placed in the patient’s belly using surgery. A sterile cleansing fluid is then put into the catheter, absorbing toxins from the blood. After the filtering process is finished, the fluid leaves the patient’s body through the catheter.

There are two forms of PD available. The first is "Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis" (or CAPD), a manual, machine-free option that is performed while the patient goes about their everyday activities. The second is "Automated Peritoneal Dialysis" (or APD) which uses a machine (cycler) to deliver and then drain a cleansing fluid. This is often done at night whilst the patient is sleeping.

The SKC team can advise you which treatments would likely work for you, but generally, we offer PD as a good starting treatment as it is gentler for the body.

Speaking about their experience, SKC patient Mark Thomas said, "When I was diagnosed with renal disease, I had to visit the clinic more than three times a week and spend hours there while the machine filtered my blood. Now, after deciding to move to PD, I do not have to plan my time around my appointments. I spend more time with my family and feel more in control of my life. All patients would make the shift to PD if they were educated on the options. I am in a much better place now thanks to the support of my doctors at SKC and their efforts in pointing me in the right direction."