Peritoneal Dialysis (PD)

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a way to cleanse the blood. It uses a natural membrane inside your body and a special solution (dialysate). The solution needs to be changed several times a day. This can be done as part of your home or work routine. Or it can be done at night by a machine.

How PD Works

PD uses the natural lining inside your abdomen called the peritoneal membrane. The abdomen is filled with dialysate. The membrane and dialysate then work to clean the blood. The dialysate needs to be changed every few hours. This is called an exchange.

Your Experience

• PD is done at home.

• A nurse or technician will teach you how to do PD exchanges.

• You need to do 4-5 exchanges daily. They take about 30 minutes each.

There are two ways to do exchanges:

• Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). With this, you do your own exchanges every 4-6 hours during the day.

• Cyclic peritoneal dialysis (CCPD). This uses a machine called a cycler. The cycler does most of your exchanges at night while you sleep.