ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The aim of this paper was to review the feasibility of peritoneal dialysis (PD) in the presence of a permanent suprapubic catheter over a long follow-up period. METHODS: Twelve patients with automated PD and permanent suprapubic catheters were studied for complications over a period of 10 years. RESULTS: In all 12 patients, PD went smoothly. Two of our patients required removal of the PD catheter due to peritonitis. The overall rate of exit-site infection throughout the study was 41.7/patient-month and the difference between patients 60 years or older and those 25 years or younger was not significant (p = 0.3673). The overall peritonitis rate for all patients was 38.3 episode/patient-month, and none of the patients with ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) had peritonitis. All patients with episodes of infection responded well to the proper antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: The available data supported the feasibility of PD in patients with permanent suprapubic catheters; however, a greater number of patients with a longer follow-up period need to be studied to support our results.
