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Dialysis Access

Heart Vascular and Leg Center -  - Vascular Specialist

Heart Vascular and Leg Center

Vascular Specialists & Cardiologists located in Bakersfield, CA

Dialysis is a life-saving treatment that removes waste and fluid from your blood when you’re in kidney failure. To perform hemodialysis, you need a dialysis access port. At Heart Vascular and Leg Center in Bakersfield, California, board-certified cardiologist Vinod Kumar MD, FACC, and the team of cardiologists and vascular experts provide safe, effective dialysis access for patients in need of hemodialysis. To schedule a consultation, call the office, or book an appointment online today.

Dialysis Access Q & A

What is dialysis?

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Dialysis is a medical treatment designed to take over your kidneys’ function when they no longer perform as well as they should. 

Your kidneys are bean-shaped organs that remove waste and fluid from your blood, which you then excrete through your urine. Your kidneys also maintain fluid and electrolyte balance. 

If your kidneys are no longer able to perform their normal functions, waste, fluid, and electrolytes build up in your body, which may affect all your organs and result in death. 

Dialysis is a life-saving treatment that removes waste and fluid from your blood to help maintain balance.

What is dialysis access?

Dialysis access is a catheter you need if you’re undergoing hemodialysis, a type of dialysis treatment. 

Your dialysis access serves as a place where the hemodialysis machine removes blood from your body, passes it through the external dialyzer to remove excess fluid and waste, and then return the clean blood to your body. 

Heart Vascular and Leg Center performs dialysis access as an outpatient procedure. Though your experienced vascular surgeon at Heart Vascular and Leg Center provides the dialysis access requested by your referring physician, they prefer placing arteriovenous (AV) fistulas over venous catheters.

AV fistulas provide better blood flow for hemodialysis, last longer, and are less prone to infection.

What can I expect during my dialysis access placement?

Dialysis access placement at Heart Vascular and Leg Center is a pain-free and straight forward process.

After you check-in at the desk, the nurse takes you to a private room and performs an evaluation. Your vascular surgeon then checks your access site and conducts an ultrasound to assess the health of your blood vessels.

Your surgeon reviews the details of the procedure with you, answers all your questions, and then places your dialysis access. 

After the procedure, your nurse takes you to the recovery area for monitoring before discharging you. 

What can I expect after the placement of my dialysis access?

Heart Vascular and Leg Center provides detailed discharge instructions on how to care for your dialysis access after placement. They ask that you avoid sleeping on the arm with the AV fistula and not wear tight clothing.

Your vascular surgeon recommends you not use your dialysis access until it’s completely healed, which may take up to three months. 

For compassionate care from an experienced team, contact the office by phone or schedule an appointment online today. 

 

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Telehealth
 

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Vascular Testing
 

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Diabetic Foot
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Wound Care
 

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Vascular Ultrasound
 

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Echocardiogram
 

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Stress Test
 

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Uterine Fibroid
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Dialysis Access
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IVC filter Placement
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