Treatment of renal failure with dialysis

Hemodialysis cleans and filters your blood using a machine to temporarily rid your body of harmful wastes, extra salt, and extra water. Hemodialysis helps control blood pressure and helps your body keep the proper balance of important chemicals such as potassium, sodium, calcium, and bicarbonate.
How It Works
Hemodialysis uses a special filter called a dialyzer that functions as an artificial kidney to clean your blood. During treatment, your blood travels through tubes into the dialyzer, which filters out wastes and extra water. Then the cleaned blood flows through another set of tubes back into your body. The dialyzer is connected to a machine that monitors blood flow and removes wastes from the blood.
Hemodialysis.
Hemodialysis is usually needed three times a week. Each treatment lasts from 3 to 5 or more hours. During treatment, you can read, write, sleep, talk, or watch TV.
Getting Ready
Arteriovenous fistula.
If you choose hemodialysis, several months before your first treatment, an access to your bloodstream will need to be created. You may need to stay overnight in the hospital, but many patients have their access placed on an outpatient basis. This access provides an efficient way for blood to be carried from your body to the dialysis machine and back without causing discomfort. The two main types of access are a fistula and a graft.
A surgeon makes a fistula by using your own blood vessels; an artery is connected directly to a vein, usually in your forearm. The increased blood flow makes the vein grow larger and stronger so that it can be used for repeated needle insertions. This is the preferred type of access. It may take several weeks to be ready for use.
A graft connects an artery to a vein by using a synthetic tube. It doesn't need to develop as a fistula does, so it can be used sooner after placement. But a graft is more likely to have problems with infection and clotting.
Needles are placed into the access to draw out the blood. You'll be given a local anesthetic to minimize any pain during dialysis.