For the first time in Karnataka, a team of doctors at Manipal Hospitals here performed a rare dialysis procedure on a 36-year-old Bengaluru woman by placing a dialysis line through a vein in the liver.
According to the experts, placing the dialysis line through the liver is the last option for a patient suffering from end-stage kidney failure with all the other veins blocked.
“We need some access to perform the dialysis. In the case of this woman, she was on dialysis for five years and all the veins in her body were blocked. Placing the catheter through the liver was the last lifeline available to her,” explained Dr Reddi Prasad Yadavali, HOD and Consultant Interventional Radiology,
Manipal Hospitals, Old Airport Road.
The procedure is a lifeline for those suffering from blocked veins and undergoing regular dialysis, according to the doctor.
However, the patient has to ensure the line is maintained well and undergo regular checkups.
“It is a complicated procedure that requires skillful intervention. We want patients to understand that there is an alternate even in such situations where all the central veins are blocked,” Yadavali said.
According to experts, fewer than 10 patients have undergone the procedure across India.