Hemodialysis

In medicine, hemodialysis (also haemodialysis) is a method that is used to achieve the extracorporeal removal of waste products such as creatinine and urea and free water from the blood when the kidneys are in a state of renal failure. Hemodialysis is one of three renal replacement therapies (the other two being renal transplant and peritoneal dialysis). An alternative method for extracorporal separation of blood components such as plasma or cells is apheresis.