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Dialysis for Kidney Infection

Dialysis is a medical process that uses a machine to filter wastes from a patient's blood. Doctors prescribe dialysis for patients with kidney failure. Kidney failure can result from a kidney infection.

  1. Kidney Failure

    • According to the Mayo Clinic, patients with glomerulonephritis develop kidney inflammation that damages the kidneys and results in kidney failure. Patients with this kidney disease require dialysis treatments.

    Glomerulonephritis Causes

    • Glomerulonephritis restricts the kidney's ability to filter wastes and toxins from the blood and may be caused by infections such as a strep infection, bacterial endocarditis or a viral infection.

    Dialysis Procedure

    • Health care professionals insert two needles into a patient's arm during a dialysis procedure. One needle transports blood from the patient to a dialysis machine, and another needle transports cleansed blood from the machine back into the patient's bloodstream.

    Dialysis Follow-up

    • A doctor will order periodic blood tests to monitor the effectiveness of dialysis for a kidney patient and may adjust the frequency of future dialysis procedures. Patients may receive dietary advice from a dietitian and medications to maintain proper fluid and electrolyte levels in the body.

    Other Treatments

    • Patients with kidney inflammation may also take antibiotics to fight an infection and drugs to maintain healthy blood pressure levels.

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