Emergency Dialysis
Urgent dialysis at any hour for acute kidney injury, dangerous potassium, fluid overload and poisoning, with referrals accepted from any hospital.
Some patients need dialysis within hours rather than as part of a programme. The unit is staffed around the clock for exactly this, and accepts referrals from any hospital in Lagos.
The indications
Emergency dialysis is indicated when the consequences of kidney failure have become immediately dangerous. Clinicians often summarise these as the five that cannot wait.
- Hyperkalaemia, a potassium level high enough to threaten cardiac arrest, particularly with electrocardiogram changes
- Fluid overload causing pulmonary oedema and breathlessness not responding to diuretics
- Severe metabolic acidosis not correcting with medical management
- Uraemia causing encephalopathy, pericarditis or bleeding
- Certain poisonings and overdoses where the substance is dialysable
For referring clinicians
Please call before transferring. We will confirm chair or bed availability, agree the timing, and have the nephrologist and nursing team ready on arrival.
It helps enormously if you can send the following ahead: the most recent urea, creatinine and electrolytes with the time they were taken, the electrocardiogram if potassium is raised, the fluid balance and urine output, current medications including anything nephrotoxic, hepatitis and HIV screening status where available, and the working diagnosis for the kidney injury.
Acute kidney injury is often reversible
It is worth saying plainly to families: needing emergency dialysis does not necessarily mean lifelong dialysis. Acute kidney injury from dehydration, sepsis, obstruction, drug toxicity or pregnancy complications frequently recovers, and dialysis is a bridge across the period while the kidneys heal.
Whether recovery is likely depends on the cause and how quickly it was treated, and the nephrologist will give you an honest assessment rather than a comforting one.
Common questions
How quickly can you accept a patient?
Call the unit directly. Availability varies through the day, and we will tell you immediately whether we can take the patient rather than leaving you waiting on a decision.
Will my relative need dialysis forever?
Not necessarily. Acute kidney injury often recovers when the underlying cause is treated. The nephrologist can give you a realistic assessment once the cause is identified.
Who looks after your relative
Care in the unit is led by our consultant intensivist, with critical care nurses at the bedside continuously and specialist input from nephrology and anaesthesia where the case calls for it.
Dr Rita IrurheChief Executive Officer, SkyHigh Medical CentreMeet the team →What this costs
Cost depends on the level of support actually needed, so we quote rather than publish a rate card. Call the unit and you will be given the current figure, what would change it, and where your HMO cover stands, before treatment wherever the situation allows.
Costs and coverNext step
If you need a bed tonight, call. We will tell you straight away.
The unit is staffed at every hour. Referring clinicians should call before transferring a patient so availability can be confirmed and the team can be ready on arrival.