What are the different types of home hemodialysis?
Home hemodialysis is performed by about 1% of patients receiving chronic hemodialysis in the United States. Patients performing home hemodialysis need a partner to assist with the dialysis procedure (or at a minimum to assist with emergencies) and will need about 4 to 8 weeks of training to learn the home hemodialysis procedure. Patients can perform dialysis with a catheter or by self-cannulation using a fistula. Several different hemodialysis modalities can be performed at home, including conventional three times per week dialysis, short (2 to 3 hours per session) daily (six times per week) hemodialysis, and overnight or nocturnal (6 to 8 hours per session) hemodialysis performed three to six times per week. For the latter method, several different types of alarms are used to assess for blood or dialysate leakage as patients typically sleep during this form of hemodialysis.
