Q: My father is on CAPD dialysis. I want to ask some questions. Are different variants of the Epox injection having the same efficacy or are they any different? Eprex 4000 unit, Wepox-4000 unit, Zyrop 4000 unit are of different costs but do they have the same efficacy? Baxter has launched some new fluids such as Icodextrin - is this different from the normal PD fluid? Also, apart from Baxter is there some other company offering the same service and product?

A:No, there is no known difference between efficacies of different Epo products currently available in market. Icodextrin unlike regular fluid is made up of non-absorbable sugar. So, the regular fluid carries the unintended effect of sugar being absorbed and therefore could cause difficult blood sugar control in diabetics requiring higher doses of anti-diabetic medicines. Besides being nonabsorbable, icodextrin also offers the advantage of more effective fluid removal under certain circumstances and while using long dwells. However, it costs more as compared to regular dialysate.