FAR Infra-red Therapy
Saeed Ahmed, City Hospital, Sunderland
At City Hospitals Sunderland Renal Unit for the past 3 years we have been using FAR Infra-red Therapy to help mature arteriovenous fistulas also deal with the complications of fistulas during dialysis.
The therapy is easy to use during periods of dialysis as shown by fistula is very important to a patient on haemodialysis as it has good outcomes regarding decreased complications of infection and death as compared to neckline.
The technique of FAR Infra-red Therapy involves an emitter placed over the fistula surface, a mild heat sensation is generated but the mature the arteriovenous fistula and reduce clotting due to release of chemicals from the vessel wall.
In our experience, there have been no complications with this therapy over the last 3 years and we have had excellent feedback and presented our work nationally. Some of the patients now using the therapy on dialysis provide the following testimonials:- “FAR Infra-red therapy helps with pain on needling and it helps reduce bruising faster”. Another patient reports that “it helps reduce swelling and bruising more quickly than normal” and a third patient reports that “the reduction in pain on needling the fistula is substantial”. These and other effects of FAR Infra-red therapy reported by other Renal Units have helped us develop the service locally.
In Taiwan the FAR Infra-red Therapy has been used successfully for over 10 years
FAR Infra-red Therapy is used on each dialysis session for 40 minutes. The equipment is portable and easy to use for the nursing staff.
It has now been adopted as part of our routine work on haemodialysis for bruising of fistula maturation in the pre-dialysis clinic. We think this therapy is very useful and could easily be adopted widely in other Renal Units. Certainly the patients in our Renal Unit have welcomed it and gained significant benefit from its use.
The Vascular Access Nurse (Debbie Sweeney) has been vital into adopting this new technology in our Renal Unit and is happy to share her learning experiences.
Kidney Life, Winter issue 2012, P21