Meaning & use
hemodialysis
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablemedicaltechnical
A medical treatment in which a machine filters waste and extra fluid from a patient's blood when the kidneys no longer work well.
Grammar: Uncountable: she needs hemodialysis, not a hemodialysis.
Patterns
- undergo hemodialysis
- be on hemodialysis
He goes to the clinic three times a week for hemodialysis.
Patients on hemodialysis often follow a strict diet.
Doctors recommended hemodialysis after her kidney function dropped sharply.
Common combinations
- undergo hemodialysis
- She had to undergo hemodialysis while waiting for a transplant.
- on hemodialysis
- Many patients on hemodialysis need help with transport.
- hemodialysis session
- Each hemodialysis session takes about four hours.
- hemodialysis machine
- The nurse checked the hemodialysis machine before starting.
- start hemodialysis
- They decided to start hemodialysis early.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dialysis
- Dialysis is the broader term and also includes peritoneal dialysis, while hemodialysis specifically uses blood and a machine.
- kidney dialysis
- Kidney dialysis is a plainer phrase for the same idea and is common in everyday speech.
- blood filtering
- Blood filtering is a loose description and is not a standard medical term.
Word family
- dialysis noun
- the process of cleaning blood artificially
- dialyze verb
- to treat with dialysis
- dialyzer noun
- the filter in a dialysis machine
- hemodialyzer noun
- the filter used in hemodialysis
Commonly confused: hemodialysis or hemodialysis vs peritoneal dialysis?
hemodialysis vs hemodialysis vs peritoneal dialysis
Hemodialysis cleans blood through a machine, while peritoneal dialysis uses the lining of the abdomen as the filter.
Practice
What does hemodialysis do for a patient?
Choose one answer.
Hemodialysis filters waste from blood in place of failing kidneys. Transfusions replace blood, and it does nothing for the lungs.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hemodialysis”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.