Pediatric Kidney Care

When the kidneys can't function properly, dialysis will remove waste, salts and excess fluid from the blood. Dialysis may take place in an inpatient or outpatient setting or at home. At UNM Children's Hospital's pediatric dialysis and infusion unit, your child can watch movies or play video games during dialysis.

A doctor will recommend the type of dialysis that's best for your child. The two types include:

• Hemodialysis, a process in which a machine cleanses the blood. It typically requires three sessions a week. Dialysis is performed by a nurse in the pediatric dialysis center for chronic patients.
• Peritoneal dialysis, which requires connecting the patient to a machine that removes the waste by exchanging the fluid in and out of the belly in cycles. Chronic patients receive training to perform this procedure at home with support from our dialysis team.

Children with kidney failure will spend time at the pediatric infusion unit, home to the Pediatric Outpatient Dialysis Unit. Children with kidney failure work with highly trained pediatric nurses for dialysis therapies in our outpatient unit or at home while awaiting a kidney transplant.

The unit is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 505-272-5221.

After a diagnosis of chronic kidney failure, a kidney transplant could be the next step. Our team will perform a thorough health evaluation to coordinate the care your child needs for a transplant, as well as guide you through the process.

When a donor kidney that's right for your child's blood type becomes available, a UNM Health transplant surgeon will perform the surgery. Your child will need to take immunosuppressant medications that keep the body from rejecting the kidney. Regular medical checkups with the UNM Health System transplant team will help with recovery.