SEHA Kidney Care

Peritoneal dialysis is a type of treatment for people with kidney failure, also known as end-stage renal disease (ESRD). It's an alternative to haemodialysis, which involves using a machine to clean the blood outside of the body.

SKC operate the largest peritoneal dialysis service in the UAE with over 120 patients currently maintained on this excellent alternative to haemodialysis which is done at home by patients or their carers at home.

In peritoneal dialysis, a special fluid called dialysate is inserted into the abdominal cavity through a catheter. The peritoneum, a thin layer of tissue that lines the abdominal cavity, acts as a filter, allowing waste products and excess fluids to pass through and be removed from the body.

Here's how it works:

• The dialysate fluid is drained into the abdominal cavity through a catheter, which is usually placed in the lower abdomen.
• The dialysate absorbs the waste products from the blood
• The dialysate fluid is then drained from the abdominal cavity, taking the waste products with it.
• The process is repeated several times a day, usually at home.

Peritoneal dialysis is usually done at home, and patients can choose from two main types:

• Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD): This involves manually filling and draining the dialysate fluid several (2-4) times a day.
• Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD): This uses a machine to automate the process, filling and draining the dialysate fluid, often at night while the patient sleeps.

Peritoneal dialysis is a convenient and flexible treatment option for many people with ESRD, allowing them to maintain a more normal lifestyle and reduce the need for frequent hospital visits.

To help you decide which form of dialysis is right for you speak to our knowledgeable team of doctors and nurses at SKC or try this website

• Connective tissue disease
• Diabetic renal clinic
• Haemodialysis
• Hypertension
• Obstetric nephrology
• Onco-nephrology
• Peritoneal dialysis
• Primary care nephrology clinic
• Renal bone disease
• Renal transplant care
• Stone clinic
• Vasculitis and complement mediated disease
• Viral infections and the kidney
• Renal and liver disease

SEHA Kidney Care always prioritises transplantation where possible and works in partnership with the Transplant Institute at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) to offers the highest number of kidney transplants in the UAE, providing:

✔ Live Donor Kidney Transplantation – Enabling life-saving transplants from compatible living donors.

✔ Deceased Donor Kidney Transplantation – Expanding access to kidney transplants through the National Organ Donation Program (Hayat). This program was set up at SKC originally and won an award for the fastest growing transplant program in the world in 2024, and was recently became a national program and devolved from SKC.

✔ Paired Exchange Transplant Programs – Matching donors and recipients who may be incompatible with their proposed donor for successful transplantation.

✔ Expert Transplant Surgery Team – All surgeries are performed at SKMC by a dedicated team of transplant specialists, ensuring the highest success rates and patient outcomes.

By integrating cutting-edge technology, specialized dialysis techniques, and world-class transplant expertise, SEHA Kidney Care is setting new standards in kidney disease management across the UAE.

At SEHA Kidney Care (SKC), we specialize in the early detection, treatment, and prevention of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI), a serious condition that can develop rapidly due to infection, dehydration, medication side effects, or underlying health conditions.

Our expert nephrologists utilize advanced diagnostics, various treatments including renal replacement therapies, and personalized treatment plans to restore kidney function and prevent long-term complications.

SKC provides in-patient nephrology care at all SEHA/PH hospitals in Abu Dhabi.

With state-of-the-art dialysis therapies, critical care nephrology, and multidisciplinary expertise, SKC provides comprehensive, life-saving AKI management, ensuring the best possible outcomes for patients in both acute and chronic care settings.

In-patient kidney care by SKC staff is provided at :

• SSMC
• SKMC
• STMC
• Tawam
• Al Ain Hospital
• Salma
• Specialised Rehabilitation Hospitals

Haemodialysis is a treatment for people with kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). It's a way to clean the blood when the kidneys can't do it on their own.

Here's how it works:

• Blood is taken from a large vein through a tube called a catheter or through a large blood vessel in the arm called a fistula.
• The blood is pumped through a special machine called a dialyzer.
• The dialyzer removes waste products, such as urea and excess fluids, and helps to balance salts like sodium, potassium and calcium.
• The cleaned blood is then returned to the body.
• The process is usually done in a dialysis center and can take several (often 4) hours, usually 3 times a week.

Haemodialysis is often done in a dialysis center, where patients sit in a comfortable chair or lie down on a bed while the machine does its work.

Haemodialysis is an important treatment for people with ESKD, helping to remove waste products and excess fluids from the blood, and improving overall health and quality of life.We offer over x facilities for convenient out-patient haemodialysis therapy.

SEHA Kidney Care (SKC) offers a full spectrum of haemodialysis (HD) and haemodiafiltration (HDF) therapies, ensuring personalized, high-quality treatment for patients with kidney failure.

Haemodiafiltration (HDF) is a type of dialysis treatment that's similar to haemodialysis (HD), but with some key differences.

Haemodialysis (HD) uses a dialyzer to remove waste products and excess fluids from the blood. Haemodiafiltration (HDF), uses a different type of dialyzer that is designed to remove waste products and excess fluids more effectively and has been associated with improved survival and quality of life.

Here are some key differences between HD and HDF:

• Dialyzer: HDF uses a special type of dialyzer that's designed to remove waste products and excess fluids more effectively, while preserving important proteins and nutrients.
• Replacement fluid: HDF uses a replacement fluid that's added to the dialysate to help remove waste products more effectively but needs extra special water treatment to ensure it is of the highest purity. SKC have invested highly in water treatment and testing to ensure safe HDF therapy.

Overall, HDF is considered a more advanced and effective form of dialysis that can help to improve the overall health and quality of life for people with kidney failure. Choose from one of these centres, click here to view.

SKC offers a bespoke service of the highest quality home HDF service to deliver the same quality HDF that we can provide at our dialysis centres to patients who meet the DoH criteria to provide a home dialysis service and who live within our home service catchment area.

Our highly trained nurses can attend to provide the service three times weekly and it involves installing a high quality water plant outside as well as the most modern equipment inside.

We also monitor the data from the dialysis session in real time into our Electronic medical record which means that our team at our dialysis centres can review your progress at a distance.

SKC have partner with Maan, The Authority for social contribution to help provide a period of dialysis therapy for patients without access to government or insurance funding, including refugees and other patients who find themselves temporarily unable to afford the costs of dialysis.

Contributions to Maan and CSR contributions from SKC support this unit.

This unit is state of the art and offers the same high quality HDF as we offer our insured patients, and we have also managed to package some required medicines also.

Patients who wish to be considered for a place at this centre need to regularly update the financial counsellor of their status and produce regular reports our financial councillor who will seek approval to attend this centre