Hemodialysis at Apollo Hospitals, Lucknow

Why Patients Choose Apollo Hospitals Lucknow for Hemodialysis

• Part of the Apollo Hospitals group, established in 1983 ? India's first corporate hospital chain, with over four decades of clinical experience and one of the largest dialysis and kidney-care networks in the country.
• A dedicated Nephrology and Urology department at Apollomedics Super Speciality Hospital, Lucknow, with consultant nephrologists supported by trained dialysis technologists, dialysis nurses, dieticians and critical-care teams. The exact number of nephrologists on the current panel can be confirmed with the department, as rosters change.
• Maintenance and acute hemodialysis under one roof ? planned thrice-weekly sessions for chronic kidney disease, plus urgent dialysis for acute kidney injury, drug overdose, severe fluid overload and dangerous potassium levels.
• Access surgery and dialysis in the same hospital ? AV fistula creation, AV graft and tunnelled/temporary catheter insertion by vascular and access teams, so patients are not sent elsewhere for their lifeline.
• Volumetric machines with ultrafiltration control and online monitoring, single-use dialysers as per policy, reverse-osmosis treated dialysis water, and infection-control protocols including separate handling for hepatitis-positive patients as per unit policy.
• ICU-backed dialysis ? for unstable patients, bedside dialysis and slow, gentler modalities such as SLED or continuous therapies can be provided in critical care under the same team.
• Transplant-ready pathway ? patients on maintenance dialysis can be worked up, counselled and referred for kidney transplantation without having to restart their evaluation at another centre.
• Care across all ages ? protocols for young working adults who need evening or early-morning slots, elderly patients with heart disease or diabetes who need gentler ultrafiltration, and paediatric referrals handled with paediatric nephrology input where required.
• Insurance and TPA desk on site for cashless processing, Ayushman Bharat and government scheme queries where applicable, and pre-authorisation paperwork.

Overview

Hemodialysis is a life-saving procedure for individuals suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD) or acute kidney failure. At Apollo Hospitals Lucknow, we pride ourselves on being one of the best hospitals for hemodialysis, offering cutting-edge care and advanced technology to ensure the best possible outcomes for our patients. Our team of highly skilled nephrologists and healthcare professionals is dedicated to providing personalised treatment plans tailored to each patient's unique needs. With a reputation for excellence and a commitment to patient trust, Apollo Hospitals Lucknow stands as a beacon of hope for those in need of hemodialysis.

Why Hemodialysis is Necessary

Hemodialysis is essential for patients whose kidneys can no longer effectively filter waste products and excess fluids from the blood. This procedure helps maintain the body's chemical balance, removing toxins and preventing complications associated with kidney failure. The benefits of hemodialysis include:

• Waste Removal: Hemodialysis effectively removes urea, creatinine and other waste products that accumulate in the bloodstream due to impaired kidney function.
• Fluid Balance: The procedure helps regulate fluid levels in the body, preventing complications such as swelling and hypertension.
• Electrolyte Management: Hemodialysis assists in maintaining the balance of electrolytes, such as potassium and sodium, which are crucial for heart and muscle function.

At Apollo Hospitals Lucknow, we utilise state-of-the-art technology and techniques to ensure that our patients receive a high standard of care during their hemodialysis sessions.

Risks of Delay

Delaying hemodialysis can lead to severe health complications. When kidney function declines, the body becomes increasingly unable to manage waste and fluid levels, leading to:

• Toxin Buildup: Elevated levels of toxins in the blood can result in symptoms such as nausea, fatigue and confusion.
• Fluid Overload: This can cause serious complications, including pulmonary edema, a life-threatening condition characterised by excess fluid in the lungs.
• Cardiovascular Issues: Prolonged kidney failure can lead to heart problems, including hypertension and heart disease.

Timely intervention through hemodialysis is important to reduce the risk of these complications and to support quality of life. At Apollo Hospitals Lucknow, we emphasise early diagnosis and prompt treatment to work towards the best possible outcomes.

Benefits of Hemodialysis

Undergoing hemodialysis at Apollo Hospitals Lucknow offers several benefits, including:

• Improved Quality of Life: Regular hemodialysis sessions can meaningfully improve overall well-being for many patients, allowing them to engage in daily activities.
• Symptom Relief: Patients often experience relief from symptoms associated with kidney failure, such as fatigue, swelling and breathlessness, following treatment.
• Personalised Care: Our team works closely with each patient to develop a tailored treatment plan that addresses their specific needs and concerns.
• Access to Advanced Technology: The unit is equipped with modern hemodialysis machines and monitoring systems, supporting safe and effective treatment.

It is important to understand that hemodialysis supports kidney function but does not cure kidney disease. Long-term outcomes depend on the underlying cause, other illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease, dialysis adequacy, nutrition and adherence to the prescribed schedule.

Preparation and Recovery

Preparing for hemodialysis is essential for a smooth experience. Here are some practical tips:

Preparation Tips

• Consult Your Doctor: Schedule a consultation with our nephrologists to discuss your treatment plan and any concerns you may have.
• Dietary Adjustments: Follow any dietary recommendations provided by your healthcare team to help manage your condition before starting treatment.
• Medication Management: Inform your doctor about all medicines you take, as some may need to be adjusted before your hemodialysis sessions.
• Arrange Transportation: Since hemodialysis sessions can last several hours, arrange for transport to and from the hospital.

Recovery Tips

• Rest: After your session, take time to rest and allow your body to recover.
• Hydration: Take fluids as advised, strictly following any fluid restriction set by your team.
• Monitor Symptoms: Watch for any symptoms or side effects and report them to your healthcare provider promptly.
• Follow-Up Appointments: Attend all scheduled follow-ups so your progress can be monitored and your treatment adjusted as needed.

At Apollo Hospitals Lucknow, we aim to provide comprehensive support throughout your hemodialysis journey, so that you feel comfortable and informed at every step.

Current Clinical Guidance Followed

Dialysis practice at Apollo Hospitals Lucknow is aligned with Indian and international guidance, which is periodically revised:

• Indian Society of Nephrology (ISN) / Indian Society of Peritoneal Dialysis ? Indian Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis Practice Guidelines: India-specific recommendations on dialysis initiation, water treatment, dialyser reuse, staffing ratios, infection control and vascular access, developed for Indian unit conditions and cost realities.
• KDIGO 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Management of Chronic Kidney Disease: the most significant recent change is the formal endorsement of risk-based CKD care using eGFR plus albuminuria and the Kidney Failure Risk Equation, with routine albuminuria testing in diabetes and hypertension, and SGLT2 inhibitors recommended much earlier for a wide range of CKD patients to delay dialysis. It also stresses that dialysis start should be based on symptoms, fluid and metabolic status and patient preference, not on an eGFR number alone.
• KDIGO 2012 CKD staging remains the framework for G1?G5 and A1?A3 categories used in reporting.
• KDOQI 2019 Clinical Practice Guideline for Vascular Access: shifted from a rigid "fistula first" rule to an ESKD Life-Plan approach ? the right access for the right patient at the right time, planning access and modality sequence over a lifetime.
• KDOQI 2015 Hemodialysis Adequacy update: supports a minimum of three sessions per week for most patients, with adequacy monitored by urea clearance targets rather than session length alone.
• KDIGO 2018 Hepatitis C and 2020 Hepatitis B guidance underpin routine viral screening, vaccination and machine-segregation policies in dialysis units.

Individual prescriptions ? blood flow, dialysate composition, session length, dry weight, heparin dose, erythropoietin and iron ? are set by your nephrologist and revised on the basis of your reports.

When Dialysis Is Started and the Pre-Dialysis Preparation Phase

Dialysis is rarely started on the day it is first discussed, unless it is an emergency. Current guidance favours a planned start.

• Urgent, same-day dialysis is needed for refractory fluid overload with breathlessness, dangerously high potassium, severe acidosis, uraemic encephalopathy or pericarditis, and certain poisonings.
• Planned start is usually considered when eGFR falls into the low teens or below and the patient develops symptoms ? persistent nausea, poor appetite, weight loss, itching, swelling, hard-to-control blood pressure or worsening anaemia.
• Access first: an AV fistula ideally needs 6 weeks to 3?4 months to mature before first use, so it is best created several months before dialysis is expected. This avoids emergency catheters, which carry higher infection risk.
• Pre-dialysis checklist: hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV screening; hepatitis B vaccination (often a double-dose schedule in CKD); blood group; ECG and echocardiography; PTH, calcium, phosphate, iron studies and haemoglobin; blood pressure and diabetes optimisation; dietician counselling; and modality and transplant counselling for the patient and family.

Modality and Technique Options Compared

Vascular Access Options

Procedures Sometimes Done Along With Dialysis Care

• AV fistula or graft creation, or fistula angioplasty/salvage for a poorly flowing access.
• Tunnelled catheter insertion or exchange, and catheter removal once the fistula is working.
• Kidney biopsy, when the cause of kidney disease is still unclear.
• Blood transfusion or intravenous iron given during a dialysis session, so no extra hospital visit is needed.
• Parathyroidectomy assessment for severe bone-mineral disease unresponsive to medication.
• Hepatitis B vaccination doses and periodic viral screening, scheduled around dialysis days.
• Transplant workup investigations clubbed with dialysis visits.

Phase-by-Phase Recovery and Adjustment Timeline

Returning to Work, Travel and Everyday Indian Routines

• Work and study: most stable patients resume within 2?4 weeks of a settled routine, choosing dialysis slots on alternate days and working on the days in between.
• Access-arm protection: no blood pressure cuff, no blood sampling, no drip and no tight bangles, watch or sleeve on the fistula arm. Avoid sleeping on that arm and avoid carrying heavy shopping bags or a child on it.
• Squatting and sitting cross-legged: safe with an arm fistula, but avoid resting your body weight on the access arm when getting up from the floor ? use the other hand or a support.
• Indian-style toilets: usually manageable; if you have a femoral catheter, or feel giddy after dialysis, use a Western toilet or a commode chair for the first hours after a session and keep a grab support.
• Floor sleeping: acceptable, but a thicker mattress and a support to push up with the non-access arm reduce strain. Patients with breathlessness from fluid overload often sleep better propped up.
• Bathing: tunnelled catheters must be kept dry and covered ? no bucket baths over the chest, no swimming, no river or tank bathing during festivals.
• Exercise: walking, light yoga and prescribed hand-grip exercises are encouraged. Avoid contact sports and heavy gym weights unless cleared by your nephrologist.
• Fasting and festivals: Navratri, Ramzan, Karwa Chauth and similar fasts need prior discussion ? fluid and potassium swings can be dangerous. Sweets, coconut water, dry fruits and fruit juices commonly cause potassium spikes.
• Travel: holiday dialysis can be arranged in advance at another centre; carry your latest reports, viral markers and dialysis prescription.

Protecting Remaining Kidney Function and Preventing Complications

• Keep blood pressure and diabetes under tight control; take medicines exactly as prescribed.
• Avoid all pain-killer NSAIDs, unprescribed antibiotics, contrast scans without nephrology clearance, and unverified herbal, ayurvedic or "kidney-cleansing" powders ? heavy metal and potassium content in unregulated products is a recognised hazard.
• Respect fluid limits; weight gain between sessions is mostly water, not fat.
• Limit high-potassium foods (banana, coconut water, tender coconut, potato, tomato, citrus, dry fruits, nuts) and high-phosphate items (dals in excess, colas, processed cheese) as guided by your dietician; leaching and double-boiling vegetables reduces potassium.
• Do not skip or shorten sessions, even during festivals, weddings or harvest season ? this is the commonest cause of emergency admissions.
• Wash the access site with soap and water before every session; never let anyone other than trained staff needle the fistula.
• Stay up to date with hepatitis B, influenza and pneumococcal vaccination as advised.
• Stop tobacco, gutka and alcohol; they accelerate vascular and access failure.

Children, Elderly Patients and Other Special Situations

Children and adolescents

Children need weight-based dialysis prescriptions, paediatric dialysers and blood lines, close growth and nutrition monitoring, and school-friendly scheduling. Peritoneal dialysis or early transplantation is often preferred in small children. Paediatric nephrology input is arranged where required.

Older adults

Elderly patients often have heart disease, low blood pressure and poor veins. Gentler ultrafiltration, longer sessions, sodium profiling, careful dry-weight setting and fall prevention matter more than aggressive clearance. For very frail patients, conservative kidney management may give better comfort than dialysis, and this decision is made jointly with the family.

Diabetes

Insulin doses usually fall as kidney function drops; hypoglycaemia during dialysis is common. Blood sugar is monitored around sessions and diabetic foot care is reinforced.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy on dialysis is possible but high risk, and needs intensified dialysis (often 5?6 sessions a week) with joint nephrology and obstetric care.

Joint family caregiving

In most Indian households one or two relatives take on transport, diet cooking and medicine management. We encourage at least two family members to attend counselling, so care does not collapse if one caregiver is unavailable. Separate cooking of low-potassium, low-salt food within a shared family kitchen is practical once the dietician has trained the person who cooks.

If You Choose Not to Start Dialysis

Declining dialysis is a valid choice that some patients and families make after full information, especially at advanced age or with multiple serious illnesses. What follows should be understood clearly:

• Waste and fluid will continue to accumulate, leading over weeks to months to breathlessness, swelling, drowsiness, nausea, itching, reduced appetite and eventually coma. Life expectancy is usually short, though it varies with residual kidney function.
• Conservative kidney management is offered instead ? medicines for nausea, itching, breathlessness and pain, diuretics and fluid advice, anaemia treatment, potassium control and psychological and family support.
• The decision is not irreversible. Patients may start dialysis later if symptoms become intolerable, or stop after a trial period.
• Advance discussion about hospital admission, resuscitation preferences and home care is encouraged so that emergencies are not handled in panic.

What Changes the Cost of Hemodialysis

We do not publish rates on this page. The factors below determine what a given patient pays; for current tariffs, packages for multiple sessions and scheme rates, please speak to the hospital reception or billing desk directly.

Insurance, Cashless Treatment and TPA Process in India

• Dialysis is usually covered as day care. Since IRDAI's standardisation of health insurance definitions, most indemnity policies cover dialysis without requiring a 24-hour admission ? but read your policy's day-care and outpatient wording.
• Waiting periods matter. Chronic kidney disease that pre-dates the policy is treated as a pre-existing disease and is generally excluded for the policy's stated pre-existing waiting period (commonly 2?4 years, now capped by regulation at 36 months for disclosed conditions). Non-disclosure at the time of buying the policy is the commonest reason for claim rejection.
• Accident versus planned cover. Acute kidney injury after trauma, crush injury or a road accident is usually admitted under accident cover and settled without pre-existing disease waiting periods. Planned maintenance dialysis for long-standing CKD follows the pre-existing and day-care rules instead. Personal accident policies alone do not fund chronic dialysis.
• Cashless process: share your policy or TPA card and photo ID at the insurance desk, submit the doctor's dialysis advice and estimate, wait for pre-authorisation from the insurer or TPA, then treatment proceeds with non-payable items and any co-pay collected at discharge. Pre-authorisation for repeated dialysis is often given as a block of sessions and needs periodic renewal.
• Reimbursement route: if the insurer is not empanelled, pay and claim later with the original bills, session records, prescriptions, discharge or day-care summary and reports.
• Government and charitable options: Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY dialysis packages, Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme centres, and Uttar Pradesh state schemes cover eligible beneficiaries; eligibility and empanelment at any given hospital must be confirmed at the desk.
• Practical tips: keep a file of every session slip, carry your Ayushman or TPA card to each visit, and ask for an itemised bill each month for tax and claim purposes.

Planning Your Visit and What to Bring

• All previous kidney reports ? creatinine trend, eGFR, ultrasound, biopsy report if any, and earlier dialysis records.
• Hepatitis B surface antigen, anti-HCV and HIV reports; without current viral status, an urgent test is done before the first session as per infection-control policy.
• Current medicine list with doses, including any ayurvedic or herbal preparations.
• Photo ID, insurance or TPA card, Ayushman card if applicable, and referral letter.
• A shawl or light blanket and socks ? dialysis halls are cool and many patients feel chilled.
• Loose half-sleeve clothing for easy access to the fistula arm.
• Permitted light snack, prescribed medicines for the session hours, phone charger, and reading material.
• One attendant, ideally the same person each time, who knows the diet and medicine plan.
• Note your morning weight before leaving home; it helps set the fluid removal target.

Warning Signs That Need Immediate Review

• Bleeding from the needling site that does not stop with 10?15 minutes of firm pressure.
• Loss of the usual buzz or thrill over the fistula, or a cold, pale, painful hand on that side.
• Fever with chills, especially if you have a catheter ? this may mean bloodstream infection.
• Redness, swelling, pus or pain over the access site.
• Breathlessness at rest or when lying flat, or sudden rapid weight gain ? possible fluid overload.
• Chest pain, palpitations, fainting or severe muscle weakness ? potassium and cardiac emergencies.
• Vomiting that prevents you from taking medicines, or confusion and excessive drowsiness.
• No urine output at all with abdominal pain and swelling.
• Any missed session due to illness or travel ? inform the unit the same day so a substitute slot can be arranged.

For Patients Travelling to Lucknow from Nearby Districts

Apollo's Lucknow unit receives patients from across central and eastern Uttar Pradesh, including Barabanki, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Kanpur, Rae Bareli, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Gonda, Bahraich, Lakhimpur Kheri, Amethi, Pratapgarh, Basti, Shahjahanpur and Farrukhabad, as well as parts of Nepal border districts.

• Because dialysis is needed three times a week, ask about fixed slot allocation on set days and times so that your travel can be scheduled reliably.
• Choose morning slots if you plan to return the same day, and confirm the slot by phone the previous day.
• For a first visit, plan a two-day stay so that consultation, blood tests, viral screening and access assessment can all be completed.
• If long-distance travel three times a week is impractical, discuss peritoneal dialysis at home, or a shared model where routine sessions happen near home and reviews, access work and transplant planning happen at Apollo.
• Carry your reports in a single labelled folder and keep digital photographs of them on your phone.
• Lucknow is well connected by Charbagh and Gomti Nagar railway stations, Alambagh and Kaiserbagh bus terminals and Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport; ask the help desk about nearby lodging options for attendants during longer stays.

Contact and Appointments

Frequently Asked Questions

What is hemodialysis, and how does it work?

Hemodialysis is a medical procedure that filters waste products and excess fluids from the blood when the kidneys are unable to do so. During the procedure, blood is drawn from the body, filtered through a dialysis machine and then returned to the body. This process helps maintain the body's chemical balance and prevents complications associated with kidney failure.

How often do I need to undergo hemodialysis?

The frequency varies with individual needs and the severity of kidney failure. Most patients require treatment three times a week, with each session lasting approximately three to five hours. Your nephrologist at Apollo Hospitals Lucknow will set