Listen in as Dr. Hiren Patel discusses end stage renal disease, more commonly referred to as severe kidney failure. When a person’s kidneys function properly, they remove waste from the body. In kidney failure, the kidneys are unable to remove waste from the body, potentially resulting in many complications such as anemia, bone disease, high blood pressure, electrolyte imbalance, poor growth in child and many others.

In children, kidney failure is generally caused by developmental defects that occurred before birth or other inherited disorders. There are two options for kidney failure: kidney transplant or dialysis. Dialysis significantly impacts a child’s quality of life and also increases his or her risk of infection.

To combat this risk of infection, Nationwide Children’s Hospital is part of a collaborative called S.C.O.P.E. S.C.O.P.E. stands for Standardized Care to improve Outcomes in Pediatric ESRD. Its goal is to reduce infection rates in dialysis patients by preventing them in the first place. The collaborative does this by evaluating and implementing standardized best practices for infection prevention. Since Nationwide Children’s has been involved with this collaborative, we’ve made great strides in preventing infection rates and reducing hospitalizations as a result.

If we can prevent infections and hospitalizations in these patients, we can keep them at home, keep them in school, keep them healthy and maintain their quality of life.

Learn more about our Nephrology services here: http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/nephrology-team

Interested in how your kidneys work? Watch some videos that demonstrate proper kidney function and failing kidney function here: http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/kidney-function-videos