To build awareness about peritoneal dialysis amongst medical fraternity, to consider it as preferred therapy option
In India, the estimated prevalence of end stage kidney disease (ESKD) is around 150-200 patients per million population. Haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and renal transplant are amongst the various modalities of treatment for the disease. As the total numbers of kidney transplants are approximately 8,000 per year, the ever increasing number of patients with ESKD cannot be met with increasing HD units. To build awareness about peritoneal dialysis amongst the medical fraternity, to consider it as a preferred therapy option, NephroPlus, a dialysis network centre organised a workshop on peritoneal dialysis recently at The Madras Medical Mission Hospital.
This was coordinated by Dr Georgi Abraham, Director Nephrology and Prof of Medicine, The Madras Medical Mission. The purpose was to influence stake holders (Nephrologists), to work tirelessly to expand peritoneal dialysis programme to benefit patients living in far corners of India and to improve the quality of life and survival benefits as many are unfit to undergo home dialysis.
Speaking at the workshop Dr Abraham, said “Although peritoneal dialysis was first introduced in India in the year 1991, the growth remained stagnant benefiting only few thousands . To overcome this barrier, better presentation of PD as an effective therapy to patients and doctors is the need of the hour. For most of the haemodialysis patients, travel to dialysis facility is a time consuming ordeal and hence home PD is preferred.
Speaking about the workshop Kamal Shah, Co-Founder and Director, NephroPlus said, “I am very thankful to Dr Abraham for interacting with nephrologists from different parts of India. At NephroPlus, we have introduced Freedom- A Peritoneal Dialysis Programme in June.”
As a part of peritoneal dialysis, a fluid is put into the lower abdomen through a permanent tube that is placed in the peritoneal cavity. The fluid circulates through the abdomen to draw impurities from surrounding blood vessels in the peritoneum, which is then drained from the body. Peritoneal dialysis offers more flexibility by allowing patients to dialysis from the comfort of their home, at work or while travelling. It duplicates the natural kidney functions; food restrictions are minimal and offer more flexibility in terms of comfort.
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