After you have decided on apheresis treatment together with your treating family doctor or resident neurologist, you will come to the RKU with a referral slip. You will be admitted there for about 7 days. The day of admission is usually Friday, on which our neurologists carry out a few more examinations. We also need to determine some laboratory parameters that we need to perform an apheresis. All explanations by the doctors and registrations are also carried out on this day.

On Monday we begin with the creation of a central vascular access. You will be taken with your bed to the apheresis center on the 2nd floor. Our friendly specialist staff will be waiting for you there to answer any questions you may have about your upcoming therapy. In addition, the preparation for the shaldon catheter installation then begins. This is preferably placed on the right side of the neck. You will receive local anesthesia and, if necessary, light sedation. Due to the high running rates on our machines and the length of the treatments, it is necessary to place the catheter centrally.

Once the catheter has been placed, we will begin your therapy. This is absolutely painless for you. If you have decided on a plasma exchange with us and our doctors, this will take about 2 - 3 hours. In the case of immune adsorption, the treatment time is between 3 and 5 hours. Both therapies are usually carried out over 5 days. You can eat and drink during your therapy. You can also take your cell phone, laptop or a good book with you to the treatment. In the apheresis center we offer large TVs or music for relaxation. Our experienced nursing staff will accompany you throughout your entire therapy and will be happy to fulfill special requests as far as possible.

For your safety, your vital signs are constantly monitored with the help of a monitor during the treatment. The daily blood draws and our blood checks during the treatment are done via a separate access to your catheter. This saves you additional punctures.

The differences, effects and side effects of the two possible treatments can be found on the following pages of our homepage.

After the treatment, you will be driven back to your ward in your bed and, if there are no pending examinations, you will have the rest of the day off.