Frequently Asked Questions About Home Dialysis

Below are frequently asked questions about home dialysis therapies, NxStage equipment, care partners, home dialysis training, and the risks and responsibilities associated with dialysis. Click on each section heading to review the FAQs pertaining to that topic.

Home Dialysis Therapy FAQs:

In this section, you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions about home dialysis, including what it is, its benefits, challenges, and available options. If you have additional questions, reach out to your doctor or contact a Patient Consultant at 888-200-6456.

Home dialysis is the option to receive dialysis treatments in the comfort of your home, rather than at a center.

NxStage Equipment FAQs:

In this section, you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions about NxStage equipment. If you don’t find the answers to your questions or need additional support, contact our customers

When you talk with your doctor and care team about starting home dialysis, you will be entered into a home training program and given a prescription and dialysis machine that you keep in your home.

Care Partner FAQs:

In this section, you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions about care partners, including what a care partner is and how to become one. If you don’t find the answers you’re looking for, contact one of our patient consultants at 888-200-6456 or contact our customer support team at 888-200-6456.

Some patients may require a care partner to help them perform home dialysis. He or she doesn’t need to be a medical professional and also doesn’t have to be a live-in relative, spouse, or family member. Your care partner can be a family member, friend, neighbor, work colleague, church friend, or even a business associate.

Home Dialysis Training FAQs:

In this section, you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions about home dialysis, including what it is, its benefits, challenges, and available options. If you have additional questions, reach out to your doctor or contact a Patient Consultant at 888-200-6456.

References:
  1. Daugirdas, John T.; Blake, Peter G.; and Ing, Todd S., “Handbook of Dialysis (5th ed.)” (2015).
  2. Jaber, B.L., Schiller, B., Burkart, J.M. et al, Impact of short daily hemodialysis on restless legs symptoms and sleep disturbances. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2011;(6):1049–1056.
  3. Jaber BL, Lee Y, Collins AJ, et al. Effect of daily hemodialysis on depressive symptoms and post-dialysis recovery time: interim report from the FREEDOM (Following Rehabilitation, Economics and Everyday-Dialysis Outcome Measurements) Study. Am J Kidney Dis. 2010;56(3):531-539
  4. Spanner E, Suri R, Heidenheim AP, Lindsay RM. The impact of quotidian hemodialysis on nutrition. Am J Kidney Dis. 2003;42(1 suppl):30-35.
  5. Choi SJ, Obi Y, Ko GJ, et al. Comparing Patient Survival of Home Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis Patients. Am J Nephrol. 2020;51(3):192-200. doi:10.1159/000504691.
  6. Rydell, H., Ivarsson, K., Almquist, M., Clyne, N., & Segelmark, M. (2019). Fewer hospitalizations and prolonged technique survival with home hemodialysis- a matched cohort study from the Swedish Renal Registry. BMC Nephrology, 20(1), 1–8.
  7. Mehrotra R, Chiu YW, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Bargman J, Vonesh E. Similar outcomes with hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis in patients with end-stage renal disease. Arch Intern Med. 2011;171(2):110-118.
  8. NxStage data on file, July 2021.
  9. Cherukuri, S., Bajo, M., Colussi, G., Corciulo, R., Fessi, H., Ficheux, M., Slon, M., Weinhandl, E., & Borman, N. (2018). Home hemodialysis treatment and outcomes: Retrospective analysis of the Knowledge to Improve Home Dialysis Network in Europe (KIHDNEy) cohort 11 Medical and Health Sciences 1103 Clinical Sciences. BMC Nephrology, 19(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12882-018-1059-2
Risks and Responsibilities

Patients should review the following information carefully and discuss it with their doctors to decide whether home hemodialysis with NxStage systems is right for them.

Users should weigh the risks and benefits of performing home hemodialysis with NxStage systems.

  • Medical staff will not be present to respond to health emergencies that might happen during home treatments, including, among other things, dizziness, nausea, low blood pressure, and fluid or blood leaks.
  • Users may not experience the reported benefits of home, more frequent, or nocturnal hemodialysis with the NxStage systems.
  • The NxStage systems require a prescription for use.

Users will be responsible for all aspects of their hemodialysis treatment from start to finish.

  • Medical staff will not be present to perform home treatments. Users will be responsible for, among other things, equipment setup, needle insertions, responding to and resolving system alarms, system tear-down after treatment, monitoring blood pressure, ensuring proper aseptic technique is followed, and following all the training material and instructions that nurses provide.

Users will need additional resources to perform home hemodialysis.

  • Users will need a trained care partner to be present during your treatment at home (unless their doctor prescribes “solo/independent” home hemodialysis, described below).
  • Users must have a clean and safe environment for their home treatments.
  • Users will need space in their home for boxes of supplies necessary to perform home hemodialysis with NxStage systems.

Certain forms of home hemodialysis have additional risks.

  • If a doctor prescribes home hemodialysis more than 3 times a week, vascular access is exposed to more frequent use which may lead to access related complications, including infection of the site. Doctors should evaluate the medical necessity of more frequent treatments and discuss the risks and benefits of more frequent therapy with users.
  • If a doctor prescribes “solo/independent” home hemodialysis without a care partner during waking hours, risks of significant injury or death increase because no one is present to help users respond to health emergencies. If users experience needles coming out, blood loss, or very low blood pressure during solo/independent home hemodialysis, they may lose consciousness or become physically unable to correct the health emergency. Users will need additional ancillary devices and training to perform solo/independent home hemodialysis.
  • If a doctor prescribes “nocturnal” home hemodialysis at night while the user and a care partner are sleeping, risks increase due to the length of treatment time and because therapy is performed while the user and a care partner are sleeping. These risks include, among other things, blood access disconnects and blood loss during sleep, blood clotting due to slower blood flow or increased treatment time or both, and delayed response to alarms when waking from sleep. A doctor may need to adjust users’ medications for nocturnal home hemodialysis, including, among other things, iron, Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents (ESA), insulin/oral hypoglycemics, anticoagulants, and phosphate binders.