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Blood saturation with toxins causes acute poisoning of the body. All organs and systems suffer from this. In some cases, the negative impact of toxic substances is so strong that it poses a direct threat to life. The faster the blood can be purified, the less damage will be done to health. Hemosorption is a blood purification technique that contributes to the rapid restoration of the functions of organs and systems.
This procedure is carried out only in the presence of clear indications. Blood purification can only be performed in a medical institution using special equipment. Throughout the procedure, the patient is under constant supervision of a specialist.
Features of the procedure
A prerequisite for hemosorption is the use of a third-party sorbent. It is the reaction of blood and sorbent that contributes to the release and removal of toxins. The peculiarity of this technique lies in the fact that the purification process itself takes place outside the body. That is why the procedure is carried out exclusively in stationary conditions with continuous medical supervision.
In the vast majority of cases, hemosorption is used for acute poisoning caused by various factors. This technique allows you to quickly achieve an improvement in the condition of patients in a coma or precoma. Efficiency is due to the rapid removal of toxic substances from the blood.
Types of hemosorption
As a sorbent, ion-exchange resins or activated carbon can be used. For the implementation of the blood purification process, special structures are used, consisting of several nodes. It is at the moment of the passage of blood along the channel of this design that contact with the absorbent substance and its purification from toxins occurs.
In medical practice, two types of hemosorption are used, the division occurs according to the type of sorbent used. In the case when activated charcoal is used to remove toxins from the blood, we are talking about the procedure of hemocarboperfusion. Ion exchange resins are used to increase the rate of release of toxins from the blood and plasma. The choice of a sorbent directly depends on the type of poison that caused acute poisoning.
Hemosorption can be prescribed to purify not only blood, but also other biological fluids – lymph, plasma or cerebrospinal fluid.
Advantages of the technique
The main advantage of hemosorption is the rapid achievement of goals. Thanks to this, it is possible to save patients from ailments that are a direct threat to life. For example, peritonitis or acute pancreatitis.
Prior to the use of the method of cleaning the liquid medium using an external sorbent, mortality in these pathologies was ten times higher.
Due to the rapid elimination of poisons, their pathological effects on the body can be minimized and stopped. Hemosorption shows the highest results in detoxification compared to other methods of cleaning the body from toxic substances.
But there are also disadvantages to this therapeutic technique – during the passage of blood through the sorbent, most of the trypsin inhibitor is absorbed. In this regard, in the future, the patient will need restorative treatment aimed at eliminating the deficiency of an important enzyme. Another drawback is the rather lengthy process of assembling the apparatus for blood purification.
Indications and contraindications for hemosorption
Hemosorption is indicated in the following cases:
- poisoning with poisons of various origins;
- anaphylactic shock, angioedema;
- acute pancreatitis;
- draft peritonitis;
- vasculitis;
- chronic skin diseases in the acute stage;
- pathology of the liver and gastrointestinal tract;
- alcohol or drug addiction.
Hemosorption has found application in modern cosmetology. The method of effectively removing toxins from the blood is used to prolong the youth of the body, although clinical medicine insists that clear indications are necessary for the procedure.
The procedure is not prescribed to patients if there are systemic blood diseases that cause clotting disorders, bleeding or large blood loss, renal or hepatic insufficiency, pathologies of the cardiovascular system, hypotension.
In the event that the patient’s life is in danger due to a large amount of toxins in the liquid medium, but there are direct or indirect contraindications, the attending physician decides on the possibility of prescribing a blood purification procedure using external sorbents. To resolve the issue, all risks to the life and health of the patient are assessed.
How is hemosorption
The principle of purification is as follows – blood from one vein moves through a special external line into a reservoir containing a sorbent. At the time of the passage of blood through the sorbent, the purification from poisons occurs. Already purified fluid returns to the bloodstream through another vein through another line.
The duration of the procedure depends on the amount of toxins. For example, it takes about an hour and a half to pass a full volume of blood through the sorbent. If after that the result is not achieved, the cleaning continues.
Hemosorption can be prescribed even to young children, subject to direct medical indications. In this case, the duration of the procedure is reduced. Cleaning stops at the moment when the amount of toxins that does not pose a threat to life and health remains in the blood of a small patient. This is followed by therapeutic therapy aimed at the complete disposal of toxins.
The most common complications are weakness, chills, low blood pressure. Depending on the patient’s condition, symptomatic therapy may be prescribed.
In rare cases, after the hemosorption procedure, the patient develops an embolism. This is due to the fact that the smallest particles of the sorbent enter the blood, which have a negative effect on the blood flow and can provoke blockage of blood vessels.