The new patient with renal failure

Abstract

This chapter discusses incidence and prevalence of kidney disease, definition and prevalence of chronic kidney disease, causes of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and acute kidney injury, modality of renal replacement therapy worldwide, patient survival with ESKD, presentation of renal disease, presenting clinical features of ESKD, examination findings in ESKD, investigations for patients with ESKD, assessment of renal function at/near end stage, complications of renal failure, management of renal failure, assessment of patients for dialysis, supportive care in ESKD, assessment of patients for dialysis, checklist for assessing patients in a low clearance clinic, haemodialysis vs peritoneal dialysis, choosing which dialysis modality, concept of integrated care, education for dialysis, choice of dialysis modality, when to start dialysis in ESKD, how to persuade the patient to start dialysis, clinical indications for starting dialysis in ESKD, the acutely presenting patient or ‘crashlander’, and psychosocial effects of starting dialysis in ESKD.