Govt plans to set up peritoneal dialysis units in remote districts

kolkata: To take pressure off various medical colleges, the state government is chalking out plans to set up peritoneal dialysis units in the far off districts like Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Alipurduar, Bankura, Purulia so that patients from the rural areas do not need to come down to the city hospitals.

Before implementing the project, the State Health department was keen on running it on a pilot basis in three top medical colleges like SSKM, NRS Medical College and Calcutta Medical College and Hospital.

As per the primary plans, the Health department is trying to set up a peritoneal dialysis unit in each district especially those situated far away from Kolkata.

The main purpose of the move is to ensure that the patients requiring peritoneal dialysis can avail the services from their nearest health facility. Once the project is implemented, it would remove the burden on medical colleges in Kolkata as well. Many kidney patients from the districts come down to the medical colleges in Kolkata on a regular basis for dialysis.

Two types of dialysis are conducted on patients suffering from critical kidney related ailments. They are peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis. Hemodialysis is performed in most of the hospitals but peritoneal dialysis is not performed everywhere. Peritoneal dialysis is a way to remove waste products from blood when patients' kidneys do not function normally. This procedure filters the blood in a different way than hemodialysis which helps filtering blood. Peritoneal dialysis on the other hand is a type of dialysis which uses the peritoneum in a person's abdomen as the membrane through which fluid and dissolved substances are exchanged with the blood. It is used to remove excess fluid, correct electrolyte problems, and remove toxins from the patients who are suffering from kidney failure.

A senior Health official said that the patients who will not be able to undergo kidney transplant and hemodialysis cannot be carried out, such patients may be given peritoneal dialysis.

It is an advantageous procedure. Once the peritoneal dialysis is introduced in the districts, it will be immensely beneficial for the chronic kidney patients.

A team of doctors from the state Health department has already started training among doctors in the district hospitals in this regard.