About Hemodialysis and Home Care Options

Guiding Blanchard Nephrology in Findlay, Ohio, Dr. Benahili Iboaya emphasizes the highest standards of patient care to address various aspects of kidney disease. One of the advanced treatments that Dr. Benahili Iboaya arrange is home hemodialysis. This is recommended in situations where kidney failure has occurred and the body is no longer able to clear the blood of extra fluid and waste.

Hemodialysis addresses this by drawing blood via needles that connect through plastic tubing to a filter known as a dialyzer. After the blood has been cleaned, it is returned to the body. The dialysis equipment pumps blood through the dialysis system at a rate that ensures only a small amount of blood is outside the body at any given time. Other elements controlled by the machine include pressure, temperature, and treatment time.

In-center hemodialysis is performed at a dialysis center, typically three times weekly, with nurse- or technician-guided sessions lasting three to four hours. With home hemodialysis, the patient and a care partner manage the treatment. There are several options here, including conventional home hemodialysis that runs along the same schedule as conventional in-center treatment. Short daily two-hour sessions are also possible, five to seven times each week, with these requiring specialized equipment.

Finally, there is the option of nocturnal home hemodialysis, a slow treatment that proceeds as the patient sleeps. Since each session lasts about six to eight hours, it may be undertaken every other night, or six times a week, depending on the physician’s determination.

What Is a Nephrologist?

After completing his residency in internal medicine at the University of Missouri,
Dr. Benahili Iboaya underwent additional training through a nephrology fellowship at the University of Mississippi. Dr Benahili Iboaya works at Blanchard Nephrology LLC, an organization which runs several renal clinics.

Nephrologists are informally known as kidney doctors. They specialize not only in treating diseases affecting the kidneys, but also in ways to care for and maintain healthy kidneys.

In order to become a nephrologist a doctor must obtain a nephrology fellowship apart from finishing medical school and completing a three-year internship in internal medicine. The fellowship will include instruction on a variety of subjects such as dialysis, management of acute kidney failure, and kidney transplantation.

In order to diagnose a kidney-related problem, a nephrologist may order both a blood test and a urine test. Other diagnostic tests that may be called for include a kidney ultrasound and kidney biopsy. Once the diagnosis is done, the nephrologist can prescribe a treatment plan.