I am a 70 years old man suffering from a kidney failure. Should I go for peritoneal dialysis or haemodialysis?
A. Per United States Renal Data System (USRDS) data, survival of patients receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD) is similar to survival of patients receiving haemodialysis (HD). Moreover, PD is less expensive than HD. All patients who are going to require dialysis should be educated on both modalities of dialysis. Ultimately, it is the patient’s preference and comfort level that should dictate the type of dialysis. PD is particularly recommended in patients with low blood pressures due to heart problems etc (as they cannot tolerate HD that may cause further drop in blood pressure) and in debilitated patients with limited ambulation (for whom it is very difficult to commute to haemodialysis centre thrice a week for HD).
