Haemodialysis is the traditional method of acute and chronic renal replacement
therapy introduced into clinical practice by Kolff. Blood is passed, via an
extracorporeal circuit, through a haemodialyser containing a semi-permeable
membrane. This allows adequate exchange of small molecular weight solutes into the
dialysate and hence their removal from the body. In general, haemodialysis is
effective for the removal of small molecular weight solutes and becomes increasingly
less efficient as molecular weight rises above a thousand daltons