[Peritonitis and catheter-related infections in peritoneal dialysis]

The incidence of peritoneal dialysis-related infections has decreased markedly over the past 20 years. This is commonly believed to be the result of improvements in connection technology and eradication of nasal and exit-site Staphylococcus aureus. However, peritonitis is still the most important cause of technique failure. The good results of single centers with a long experience of peritoneal dialysis and the excellent randomized trial results have proved to be incomparable with those of nonselected populations. The analysis of organism-specific infections joined to the identification of the entry pathway into the peritoneum could allow individual centers to focus on the weaknesses of the used protocols and procedures.