Nephrology
Dialysis Center
What Sets Us Apart
Our staff provides your child with the best medical care possible. Your child's healthcare team will work together with you and your child to develop a treatment plan.
Multidisciplinary Team
Each team member specializes in pediatrics and plays an important role in your child's treatment plan. In addition to board certified pediatric nephrologists, intensivists, and dialysis nurses, your child's pediatric dialysis team also includes the following:
- Pediatric renal dietitian
- Pediatric renal social worker
- Child life specialist
- School teacher
Supportive Care
Pediatric dialysis specialists at Primary Children’s are committed to helping your child live as normally and comfortably as possible.
Kid-Friendly Environment
The Pediatric Dialysis Center was designed with children’s needs at the top of mind. The unit is a comfortable, caring space that helps nurture your child during treatment. The unit provides the following:
- Music Therapy
- Art Therapy
- Games
- One-on-one instruction with a school teacher
National Recognition
We are a member of the SCOPE (Standardized Care to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric Endstage Renal Disease) Dialysis Collaborative. The SCOPE Collaborative works to develop the most effective treatment plans for children who need dialysis. Our involvement with SCOPE helps us keep your child safe, prevent dialysis-related infections, and live a healthy, happy life.
What to Expect
When your child’s kidneys are not working properly, dialysis helps filter the waste from the blood and helps your child start to feel better. While dialysis is rare in children, kids with chronic renal disease, acute kidney failure and other systemic conditions (e.g., lupus) may need it.
At Primary Children’s Hospital, your child will receive personalized dialysis on the Pediatric Dialysis Center. Primary Children’s offers the only onsite dialysis unit in Utah dedicated to specifically to children.
Inpatient Dialysis
Inpatient treatments are administered when your child stays overnight for extra monitoring and are done at the child's bedside.
Hemodialysis
Most kids begin dialysis treatments with hemodialysis, which uses a machine to pump blood through a tube into a special filter called a dialyzer. This machine filters out waste and extra fluid from the blood, and the filtered blood flows through another tube back into the body.
Peritoneal Dialysis (PD)
Peritoneal dialysis uses a dialysis solution — water with salt and other additives — that’s inserted into the belly through a catheter (tube) to soak up waste and extra fluid.
When the bag is empty, you can disconnect it and put a cap on the catheter, and your child can go about their usual activities. After a few hours, the used dialysis solution is drained into another bag, bringing the waste and extra fluid with it. The abdomen is always filled with some of the fluid, so the filtering process is continuous.
Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT)
CRRT is a slow, gentle, and continuous form of hemodialysis that removes larger amounts of fluid from the body and filters it slowly — similar to the pace of a healthy kidney. CRRT is used for patients who have low blood pressure, which can make circulating the blood and fluid during regular hemodialysis more difficult.
Outpatient Dialysis
Once your child’s physicians have determined your child is stable enough to go home after dialysis treatments, outpatient dialysis can allow them to get back to their normal activities sooner, such as school and visiting with friends.
Our outpatient dialysis unit has five treatment stations for hemodialysis. Child-life specialists will make sure your child feels comfortable by providing books, video games, coloring supplies, and anything else that will put them at ease during dialysis.
Home Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis
Hemodialysis and Peritoneal dialysis are available in a home setting. In general, it is a simpler process for families to easily adjust to that can be accomplished with safety in mind. We will monitor your child’s treatments through regular in-person visits.
Home Education and Training
If you are doing dialysis treatments at home, pediatric dialysis specialists at Primary Children’s will work closely with you and your child to ensure that you have all the information and materials you need to successfully manage your child’s treatments as safely and effectively as possible.
Kidney Transplant
Children on dialysis are often candidates for a kidney transplant. After the transplant, they may no longer need dialysis.
The Primary Children's Dialysis Center has been serving children with kidney disease for more than 35 years. Our professional, highly-trained healthcare staff will provide your child with the best medical care as they have for thousands of children diagnosed with kidney disease.
Many families feel scared and overwhelmed when their child first receives a kidney disease diagnosis. Our team of trained healthcare professionals is here to provide your child with excellent medical care. At the Primary Children's Dialysis Center, our goal is to help children with kidney disease live the healthiest lives possible.