What is hemoperfusion?
Hemoperfusion is a medical procedure used to clean the blood toxins. During this process, blood passes through the adsorbent that attracts toxic substances. Adsorbent material is usually coal or activated carbon attached to a solid surface inside the column. During treatment, the patient's blood passes through the column and the toxins bind to the adsorbent, allowing the cleaning blood to be cured from the column. This process continues until the most toxic material is removed from the blood. First, this process is used as a supportive treatment for people who undergo liver transplantation. Before and after the transplant, patients undergo blood cleaning so that the newly transplanted liver is not overloaded. Hemoperfusion is also a type of dialysis that is used as a supportive treatment for people with kidney failure. Finally, the procedure is used by the emergency medical treatment in cases where the patient enjoyed a large amount of substance that is toxic to the kidneys such as barbiturates. In this case the blood is cleaned to makeprevented acute kidney failure.
Hemoperfusion can successfully remove toxins or waste products present in the patient's blood. In some cases, however, toxins or waste products left the blood and entered the tissues. If this happens, this type of treatment cannot remove all toxins and the kidney damage or other symptoms of toxicity may always occur. This is a common problem with overdose of tricyclic antidepressant, where treatment can remove most of the drug from the bloodstream, but at a time when a large amount of drug is performed, the tissues have already entered.
The hemoperfusion process can take up to three hours. At the beginning of the treatment, the patient is mounted by the catheter: one is placed in the artery in the arm and the other is placed in the nearest vein in the same arm. Both catheters are associated with a treatment unit that includes a column of adsorbent material, and the catheter embedded in a vein is also a connectionn to the blood pressure monitor. During treatment, the patient is given a small dose of heparin to prevent blood clotting.
This process is associated with certain risks and side effects. Although regular doses of heparin are administered during the procedure, blood clotting is still a potential problem. In addition, heparin may increase the risk of uncontrolled bleeding for short time after treatment. The infection is a risk unless the device is adequately sterilized; However, as long as the treatment is performed by someone who is properly qualified, this risk is minimal.