[Auto-dialysis: an 11-year experience of a hemodialysis center in France].
OBJECTIVE
Report 11 years of experience with self-managed hemodialysis in patients medically apt for extra-hospital dialysis and living close enough to small outpatient hemodialysis units to become totally self-sufficient.


RESULTS
Among the 276 patients with chronic renal failure managed at the hemodialysis center at the Troyes hospital during the 11-year study period from 1984 through 1994, self-managed hemodialysis at small outpatient units was initiated in 127 (46%). None of these 127 patients required medical assistance or specific care during dialysis sessions. At initial hospital admission, only 60/127 (47%) were totally self-sufficient: 52 (41%) were later graft recipients; and 21 (16.5%) had to return to the hospital for a medical or surgical condition incompatible with extra-hospital care but all of these 21 patients remained self-sufficient.


CONCLUSIONS
Extra-hospital hemodialysis in units close to the patients residence offers patients a better quality of life, even when medical assistance is required. All patients who require hemodialysis can thus be treated at lower cost without compromising quality of treatment. Perfect self-sufficiency may not be a goal in itself, but self-managed hemodialysis can be a very useful technique for patients without major medical problems. Continuing contact with the organizing hemodialysis center guarantees the safety of the system.
Montagnac
R
R
Service d'Hémodialyse, Centre Hospitalier de Troyes.
Schillinger
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006437:Hemodialysis, Home / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors
L'autodialyse: une expérience de 11 ans d'un service d'hémodialyse de province.