Department of Nephrology

The Department of Nephrology diagnoses and treats kidney diseases, electrolyte disorders, arterial hypertension and provides comprehensive treatment of patients who require renal replacement therapy for acute kidney injury or end-stage renal disease (dialysis and kidney transplantation). Consulting nephrologist is available 24/7 together with the additional nephrologist on-call in the case of kidney transplantation.

Main activities

Our clinical department’s work involves the following key activities:

1. In-hospital and out-patient treatment of acute and chronic patients with kidney diseases, arterial hypertension and electrolyte disorders.
2. Acute hemodialysis, plasma exchange and continuous hemodialysis procedures for critically ill pediatric and adult patients.
   Acute hemodialysis catheter insertion.
   Chronic hemodialysis in 3 hemodialysis centers, including regular night shift, nocturnal hemodialysis programme, hemodialysis for patients with transmissive diseases and tourist hemodialysis.
3. Peritoneal dialysis.
   Therapeutic apheresis programme (plasma exchange, LDL apheresis and immune adsorption).
4. Vascular access surgery (creation and reconstruction of arteriovenous fistula and graft) by dedicated nephrologists.
   24/7 collaboration with Eurotransplant (responding to offers for kidney and combined kidney and pancreas transplantation).
   Patient enrollment to a waiting list for kidney transplantation from a deceased donor.
5. Patients’ preparement for kidney transplantation surgery, treatment of transplanted patients from the second day after surgery.
6. Follow-up of all slovenian patients with transplanted kidney from transplantation to graft failure plus one year after graft failure
   Doppler-ultrasonography of the native and transplanted kidneys and renal arteries.
7. Vascular access related Doppler ultrasonography: preoperative mapping of blood vessels before arteriovenous fistula construction, Doppler ultrasonography of arteriovenous fistula and graft, ultrasonography-guided hemodialysis catheter insertion.
8. Echocardiography for patients with kidney diseases.
9. Biopsies of native kidneys.
10. Indication and surveillance biopsies of transplanted kidneys (in-hospital and outpatient).
11. Expert urine diagnostics performed by dedicated nephrologists.