PD Catheter Access: Placing the Catheter
Your kidneys remove waste from your blood. When they fail, this work must be done some other way. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a treatment that can take over when your kidneys stop working. 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.
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| A technician or nurse will teach you how to use your PD system. |
Placing the Catheter
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A nurse or anesthesiologist gives you medication so you don’t feel pain during surgery.
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A small opening is made just below your navel. The catheter is placed through this opening.
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One end of the catheter sits in your abdomen. A few inches of the other end comes out an exit site in your skin. This end is clamped off and capped when it’s not being used.
Publication Source:
Burkart JM, Daeihagh P, Rocco MV, Brenner & Rector's The Kidney, 7th ed., Chapter 60 - Peritoneal dialysis, 2004, pp 2626-2629
Online Medical Reviewer:
Godsey, Cynthia M.S., M.S.N., APRN
Online Medical Reviewer:
Gomella, Leonard MD
Date Last Reviewed:
1/2/2005
Date Last Modified:
7/9/2002