Diabetic patients can do as well on peritoneal dialysis as nondiabetic patients

It is not uncommon that diabetic peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients are volume overloaded and this may have contributed to the inferior outcome of diabetic patients. In the present cohort study, we compared the difference between diabetics and nondiabetics during the first year of PD after implementing strict volume control.

Seventeen diabetic and 40 nondiabetic incident PD patients were followed for 1 year. Fluid status was evaluated by bioimpedance analysis and blood pressure. Nutritional status was evaluated by subjective global nutritional assessment.

At the initiation, compared with the nondiabetics, diabetics had a significantly higher extracelluar volume, systolic blood pressure and lower serum albumin. One year later, there were no statistical differences in these parameters between the two groups. The prevalence of malnutrition decreased in all patients, although malnutrition remained slightly higher in diabetic patients.

Our study suggests that diabetics can do as well as nondiabetics on PD. Appropriate diabetic care, especially strict volume control, may be critical for the success of diabetic patients on PD treatment.