The Nephrology Service is working on a project to promote the prevention, detection and treatment of chronic kidney diseases. World Kidney Day is celebrated today under the theme “Kidney health for all: Bridge the knowledge gap to better kidney care”
The Dialysis Unit of the Nephrology Service of the Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB) is developing a project aimed at improving the prevention and detection of chronic kidney disease as well as the renal replacement therapy (RRT) suitable for each person. The project is based on the possibilities of telemonitoring and contact with medical teams offered by digital technologies. Around 20 advanced chronic kidney disease patients from the HUB's Dialysis Programme already take haemodialysis sessions at home and another 70 peritoneal dialysis patients do likewise.
The project proposes the integration and coordination in a common digital platform of all the chronic-renal-care links. These include: Primary Care -which is key to identifying patients at risk who can benefit from prevention and treatment actions-; the choice of renal replacement therapy (peritoneal dialysis, haemodialysis or transplantation); and the remote care of patients with home treatment -which is coordinated by both staff from the HUB and the Primary Care-.
"This transformative project can help us reduce the number of patients in need of RRT, increase the number of pre-dialysis living donor transplantations and add more patients to home-based techniques, which are more sustainable and provide better quality of life and patient empowerment," explains Dr Inés Rama, head of the HUB Dialysis Programme.
Chronic kidney disease affects 15% of the population and up to 35% of people over 70 years of age, with an upward trend in recent years. These percentages highlight the relevance of this pathology, for which transplants and dialysis are the only treatments. In Catalonia, the level of renal transplants is among the highest in the world; in fact, the HUB is the hospital that performed the most in Spain last year, with up to 193. "In Catalonia, only 4% of prevalent patients on RRT do home dialysis. This is more sustainable and empowers the patient in the treatment of their disease, which is a key aspect in chronic pathologies," says Dr. Rama.
The Bellvitge Nephrology Service performs around 12,000 haemodialysis sessions per year, including inpatients and chronic outpatients. In April 2021, the Dialysis Unit moved its activity to new and more modern facilities within the HUB, which have doubled the Unit’s capacity.
Now the Dialysis Unit of the HUB Nephrology Service has 20 haemodialysis spots for chronic patients, 4 haemodialysis spots for isolated patients (including a room with
negative pressure), and 6 haemodialysis spots for patients in conventional hospitalisation. The new Unit also doubles the capacity for the area for home techniques implementation (peritoneal dialysis and home haemodialysis), and expands and renovates the area for interventional nephrology, where renal biopsies and catheter placement are carried out.
According to Dr Josep M. Cruzado, head of the Nephrology Department at Bellvitge University Hospital, "we will continue to work to ensure that pre-dialysis transplantation (mainly from living donors) and home dialysis are, whenever possible, the first options for RRT, because we have evidence from studies that they offer the best results for both patients and the health system".
Click here for the official website of World Kidney Day 2022