Chronic Kidney Disease

Your doctor used a special needle to remove a small piece of tissue from your kidney to examine it for signs of damage and disease. A kidney biopsy is ordered after other tests have shown that there may be a problem with your kidney. Kidney biopsies are also performed when kidney disease is suspected and to rule out cancer.

A percutaneous nephrostomy means that urine was drained from your kidney to prevent pain, infection, and kidney damage. You had the procedure because your kidney or the tube leading from the kidney to the bladder (ureter) was blocked by a kidney stone or tumor, or perhaps due to another problem. The blockage caused a backup of urine in your kidney. Here's how to care for yourself at home.

Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis, or CAPD, is a type of kidney dialysis that is done continuously throughout the day. Usually 4 to 5 times each day, the patient fills their abdomen with a special a washing fluid. While the fluid sits in the abdomen it removes excess fluids and any waste material from the blood and is drained from the abdomen. Watch this program to learn more about CAPD.

Hemodialysis is a type of procedure that involves the patient being connected to a machine to clean their blood of any excess fluid or waste material. On average, each session of hemodialysis lasts 4 hours and must be done three times a week in a dialysis center. Learn more about hemodialysis by watching this program.

In order for a dialysis machine to clean excess fluid or waste material from a person's blood, the patient needs to be connected to the machine, usually for several hours, three times a week. This connection, or fistula, is often made in the patient's arm, where an artery is surgically connected to a vein. Learn more about this access point, or AV fistula, and how it works, by watching this program.

If you and your healthcare team have chosen hemodialysis to treat your kidney failure, you'll need an access point, or connection point, so that your blood can be cleaned by the dialysis machine several times a week. For most people, this access point is an AV fistula, often made in the patient's arm. By watching this program, you'll learn how your dialysis care team will access the fistula during dialysis.

If you are receiving hemodialysis, it's likely that you are connected to the dialysis machine through an AV fistula, probably in your arm. It's very important that this access point, or fistula, is in good working order and is free of infection. Learn how to care for your fistula by watching this program.

Being told that you need dialysis because your kidneys are starting to fail, can be very stressful, emotionally as well as physically. By watching this program, you will learn what kinds of resources can help you cope with the emotions, as well as the lifestyle changes that go along being on dialysis.

An AV fistula is a connection between an artery and a vein. For this procedure, an AV fistula is surgically made using an artery and a vein in your arm.

One critical way to help manage Chronic Kidney Disease is by watching your diet. Many foods can place a lot of stress on the kidneys, so it's important to limit these. Learn how to eat healthy with CKD by watching this program.

If you've been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, you may be facing some unexpected challenges. But kidney disease doesn't have to take over your life. Use these simple strategies to manage it.

This sheet provides important tips for managing sodium for people with chronic kidney disease. © NIH (National Institutes of Health)

This sheet provides important tips for managing phosphorus for people with chronic kidney disease. © NIH (National Institutes of Health)

This sheet provides important tips for managing potassium for people with chronic kidney disease. © NIH (National Institutes of Health)

This sheet provides important tips for managing protein for people with chronic kidney disease. © NIH (National Institutes of Health)

Living with Chronic Kidney Disease involves a lot of changes, starting with making room for dialysis in your weekly routine. Beyond dialysis, there are several other healthy choices you can make that might include controlling your blood pressure, cholesterol or diabetes, stopping smoking, eating healthy, and getting your weight under control. This program will walk you through some important lifestyle changes that can help you live longer with CKD.

Peritoneal dialysis is a way to cleanse the blood to treat kidney failure. It uses the lining of your abdomen called the peritoneal membrane and a special solution (dialysate).

Before hemodialysis can be done, a way for blood to leave and return to your body (an access) is needed. A hemodialysis access is often made in your arm. The 2 main types of accesses are an arteriovenous fistula (AV fistula) and an arteriovenous graft (AV graft).

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a treatment that can take over when your kidneys stop working. The peritoneum is the membrane lining the inside of the belly (abdomen). PD uses the lining of your abdomen as a filter for your blood. Before PD can be done, an opening into this lining (an access) must be made. The access for PD is a soft tube called a catheter placed into your abdomen.

Ureteroscopic stone removal may be done before, after, or instead of other treatments. If you need this procedure, your doctor will discuss its risks and possible complications. You will be told how to prepare. And you will be told about anesthesia.

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy may be done before, after, or instead of other treatments. If you need this procedure, your doctor will discuss its risks and possible complications.

Acute Kidney Injury is a sudden episode of kidney failure or kidney damage, causing a build-up of waste products in your blood and excess fluid in your body. AKI can happen within a few hours or a few days, but it is treatable and your kidneys may recover, unlike in chronic kidney disease where the damage is permanent. Learn the causes and symptoms of Acute Kidney Injury in this program.

More than 600,000 Americans have End Stage Renal Disease, where their kidneys only function at 15% of normal. At this stage of kidney disease, a patient must go on dialysis or receive a kidney transplant in order to survive. This program will explain what ESRD looks like and will offer suggestions for transitioning into this stage of chronic kidney disease.

This is the loss of the function of your kidneys. These are the organs that filter your blood to produce urine. When your kidneys can no longer cleanse your blood, waste builds up in your body. This can be fatal.

In its early stages, people with Chronic Kidney Disease, or CKD, might not even know they have the disease because they have no symptoms. However, the disease is very likely to get worse over time, and it's important to have a good support system to cope with each new stage. In this program, learn how family members, friends, your healthcare team and even others living with CKD can help you adjust to the changes that are required to live with CKD.