Evaluation of efficacy, survival rate and complications of peritoneal catheter placement of patients with end-stage renal disease

OBJECTIVE: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) as an equivalent to hemodialysis (HD) is one renal replacement therapy (RRT), which has several advantages compared to hemodialysis. However, most nephrologists are reluctant to apply this method. The purpose of this study is to assess the catheter efficiency, survival rate and complications of PD catheter placement in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients.

METHODS: From September 2002 to September 2003, 21 patients were operated by PD catheter placement in Imam Hossein Hospital, Tehran, Iran. The kind of catheter and surgical technique were identical in all patients. After surgery, patients were observed for 6 months.

RESULTS: Out of the 21 patients, 13 (61%) were males and 8 (39%) were females. Diabetes and hypertension were the most common cause of nephropathy, mean age was 51.2 years and mean time between operation and from the beginning of PD was 9 days (range 1-14 days). In 8 (38%) patients, the 2 weeks break-in period was ignored. Complications observed were as follows: peritonitis in 2 (9.5%), leak of dialysate in 2 (9.5%), abdominal wall hernia in 2 (9.5%), catheter malfunction in 2 (9.5%) and abdominal wall hematoma in 2 cases (9.5%). The catheter lasted 6 months in all cases. However, 12 patients who previously received hemodialysis were more satisfied with PD.

CONCLUSION: From the point of prevalence, our complications were not significantly different from previous studies. The 6-month survival rate and efficiency of catheter was very high. In addition, the rate of satisfaction of patients who received PD was also high. We suggest that more accurate studies on ESRD patients should be carried out to evaluate the use of PD in the primary stage of ESRD instead of HD.