When Is Time to Start Dialysis in Renal Failure

Chronic Renal Failure refers to chronic kidney disease or systematic disease that affected the kidney and caused the decline of renal function. It is the syndrome composed of various clinical symptoms and metabolic disorder. The time to start dialysis depends on the illness condition of the patients with comprehensive assessment.

Renal Failure caused by Diabetic Nephropathy develops quickly in the end stage and there are more complications. Therefore, patients with Diabetic Nephropathy start dialysis earlier than other kidney disease patients. When the Glomerular Filtration Rate(GFR) is lower than 15ml/min, they have to begin dialysis. For elder patients and patients with malnutrition, the muscle is not much and the serum creatinine is low, so it cannot reflect the true condition of the renal function. Thereby, when to start dialysis depends not only on the serum creatinine, but consider more about the Glomerular Filtration Rate. 

Apart from the value of the tests, whether to start dialysis should also consider the clinical manifestations such as severe water and sodium retention, pulmonary edema, hard control electrolyte disorder, acid-base imbalance, serious hypertension, pericarditis and heart failure. When these symptoms appear, the patient should consider undergo dialysis.

All in all, the proper time of dialysis is when the systematic complications have not appeared and there are the above manifestations.