Infectious complications of peritoneal dialysis

Abstract

Peritoneal dialysis is one of three basic methods of renal replacement therapy. Others include hemodialysis and kidney transplantation. In peritoneal dialysis, the peritoneal cavity is used to clean the blood of excess unnecessary substances and water. The peritoneum is a thin membrane permeable to water and many substances, lining the organs inside the abdominal cavity. Briefly, the peritoneum can be considered a kind of filter. When performing peritoneal dialysis, a dialysis fluid is administered to the abdominal cavity, which discharges after some time, and this activity is repeated at planned intervals. The chemical composition of the fluid is appropriately selected for each patient so as to obtain optimally favorable results of dialysis. Water diffusion depends on the concentration in the fluid of glucose and other osmotic factors. Among the infectious complications of peritoneal dialysis, including drainage site infections, tunnel inflammation and peritonitis associated with peritoneal dialysis, the latter remains the most common and serious.

Keywords

• peritoneal dialysis
• peritonitis, tenckhoff catheter
• infectious complications