Home Dialysis Improves Well-being in Children

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For children with kidney failure who require dialysis, performing it at home at nighttime seems to improve their overall sense of well-being, a study shows.

Dialysis is a process by which waste products are removed from the bloodstream when the kidneys are incapable of doing so. Traditionally, patients requiring dialysis travel several times per week to a clinic where the process can take upwards of 5 hours.

The use of home nighttime dialysis was developed for adults in 1994 and the use of this treatment has expanded in the adult renal failure population, in whom it reportedly improves dialysis delivery and patient well-being at reduced cost.

The current study suggests it's a worthwhile option for adolescents who require dialysis as well.

In the September issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, Canadian researchers report on four teenagers who successfully underwent dialysis at home for 8 hours, 6 to 7 nights per week.

The introduction of home nighttime dialysis to a patient's home is "a huge undertaking," Dr. Denis F. Geary and colleagues from the University of Toronto emphasize in their report.

"However, the improvement in clinical status, school attendance and performance, which we have noted, and the small but consistent improvement in quality of life reported by our patients suggest that the outcomes justify the psychosocial burden that (it) accompanies."

The annual cost of home nighttime dialysis per patient was $64,000 Canadian. This represents a 27 percent savings compared with hemodialysis performed in a clinic three times per week.

SOURCE: Journal of Pediatrics, September 2005.