Which statement best describes the key difference between hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis?

• A. Hemodialysis uses an artificial circuit and vascular access; peritoneal dialysis uses the peritoneal membrane and dialysate
• B. Peritoneal dialysis uses an artificial circuit and vascular access
• C. Hemodialysis uses the peritoneal membrane
• D. Peritoneal dialysis uses external blood circuit

Answer: (A)

The key difference is where filtration occurs and how the cleansing process is set up. Hemodialysis uses an artificial dialyzer outside the body and relies on blood being removed from the circulation through a vascular access point (like a fistula, graft, or catheter) to be cleaned by dialysate in the machine, then returned to the body. Peritoneal dialysis uses the patient’s own peritoneal membrane as the filtering surface; dialysate is placed into the abdominal cavity through a catheter, wastes diffuse across that membrane into the dialysate, and the fluid is later drained—no external blood circuit is used.

So the statement that best describes the difference is that hemodialysis involves an artificial circuit with vascular access, while peritoneal dialysis uses the peritoneal membrane and dialysate. The other descriptions mix up which method uses the artificial circuit, the peritoneal membrane, or an external blood circuit.