Renal Replacement Therapy (Nov 2018)

A case of damage to a peritoneal dialysis tubing by a pet cockatoo and review of the literature

  • Toshihide Naganuma,
  • Yoshiaki Takemoto,
  • Junji Uchida,
  • Tatsuya Nakatani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s41100-018-0190-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 1
pp. 1 – 5

Abstract

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Abstract Background Peritoneal dialysis (PD) access is important for patients undergoing PD. However, one of the potential complications of peritoneal dialysis access is damage to the dialysis tubing. Although most dialysis tubing damage is due to human error, there have been reports of damages attributed to pets owned by the patients. Much of the damage caused by pets has been attributable to cat biting or scratching, whereas the present case is an extremely rare case of dialysis tubing damage caused by a pet cockatoo. Case presentation A 65-year-old male with end-stage renal disease due to diabetic nephropathy who had been undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) for 6 years was admitted to our hospital with the chief complaint of dialysis tubing damage. While the patient was playing with his pet cockatoo on his belly after taking it out of its cage, the bird bit into his dialysis tubing of his transfer set without him realizing it, thus damaging the tube. The patient noticed that his dialysis tubing was leaking and realized that it had been damaged. He folded the end of the damaged tube, secured it with a rubber band to prevent further leakage, and made an emergency visit to our hospital. Upon inspection, we found that the dialysis tubing was completely disconnected, 28 cm from the metal connector of the connection tube. After consultation, the damaged tube was replaced. As a preventive measure for peritonitis, antibiotics were administered orally for 1 week (oral levofloxacin, 250 mg every 48 h). The patient was instructed to be careful when handling his cockatoo, and his CAPD treatment has been continued without incident to date. Conclusion This is a rare case report of PD tubing damage caused by a cockatoo kept at home. It may be necessary to pay sufficient attention to PD equipment damage by birds in PD patients keeping large birds, such as cockatoos.

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