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Updated: Jun 16, 2026

A Novel Approach for the Administration of Medications and Fluids in Emergency Scenarios and Settings
Published on: November 9, 2016
Intraperitoneal drug therapy: an advantage
Kunal Chaudhary1, Shadi Haddadin, Ravi Nistala
1Clinical Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Harry S Truman VA Medical Center, 800 Hospital Dr., Columbia, MO 65201, USA. chaudharyk@health.missouri.edu
Abstract:
The peritoneum is a cavity which has been successfully utilized by nephrologists to perform peritoneal dialysis (PD) in patients with renal failure. The physiologic characteristic of the peritoneal cavity not only helps remove toxic metabolites from the body, but also provides a useful portal of entry in the body for several pharmacological agents. Several medications such as antibiotics are given via the intraperitoneal (IP) route in PD patients to treat episodes of peritonitis. More recently the IP route has been used for chemotherapy in patients with intra-abdominal malignancies, i.e. gynecological and gastrointestinal cancers and has shown very promising results. In patients with peritoneal surface malignancies, perioperative IP chemotherapy has been used with good results. The rate and amount of drug transfer in the peritoneum are dependent on several factors. Factors such as peritoneal inflammation, surface area, peritoneal blood flow, time of contact, etc, influence the drug transfer. This review discusses the usefulness of IP drug therapy and the factors influencing it, as well as strategies to increase the efficacy, and conclude that IP route is an alternate route to the more conventional drug delivery routes, and can be successfully used when the target is within the peritoneal cavity or adjacent tissue.
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