Renal dialysis is a medical treatment used to remove excess fluids and waste products from the blood of patients with kidney failure. There are various synonyms for renal dialysis which include hemodialysis, hemofiltration, renal replacement therapy, peritoneal dialysis, and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Hemodialysis is the most common form of renal dialysis, where blood is pumped out of the patient's body, filtered through an artificial kidney, and returned to the body. Peritoneal dialysis, on the other hand, involves using the patient's own abdominal lining to filter the blood. Renal replacement therapy is a more general term used to describe any method used to replace the function of the kidneys.