Management of peritonitis and bowel perforation during chronic peritoneal dialysis

Peritonitis and bowel perforation are the most serious conditions of peritoneal dialysis. This paper reports our experience with these two complications among 87 patients who were admitted to our porgram during a 3.5-year period and were treated with chronic peritoneal dialysis for periods up to 38 months (average 9 months). Approximately 6,000 dialyses were performed. Peritonitis occurred seven times in six patients (0.1%) and five patients had six episodes of bowel perforation (0.1%). All patients were successfully managed with conservative treatment, consisting of continuous peritoneal dialysis and intraperitoneal and systemic antibiotics. Careful aseptic technique seems to be the only necessary factor in prevention of peritonitis.