Current Status of Peritoneal Dialysis in Japan

As an effective renal replacement therapy, peritoneal dialysis (PD) is as important as hemodialysis (HD) and renal transplantation. PD is beneficial for social rehabilitation and home medical care. However, in Japan, there are fewer PD patients than HD patients.

According to the JSDT 2015 registry, PD patients accounted for only 2.9% of all dialysis patients, and they have been gradually decreasing since 2009. One of the reasons why PD is not widely used in Japan is that there is insufficient evidence supporting its use. In this review, some recent reports about changes and challenges of PD, including survival rates, residual renal function, peritonitis, encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS), and combination therapy are summarized. These also indicate some problems and strategies related to PD treatment in Japan. According to the PDOPPS study, the incidence of peritonitis and culture-negative peritonitis was higher in Japan than in other countries. Further, the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) Recommendation about peritonitis and catheter-related infection that topical application of antibiotic cream or ointment to the catheter exit site should be used daily could be a strategy for decreasing the incidence of peritonitis. The prevention and treatment of EPS are other challenges in PD. An EPS recommendation was published by the ISPD in 2017. Although the Next PD study showed that the occurrence of EPS is now decreasing compared to the time when acidic dialysates were used, the predictors for the development of EPS and strategies to reduce EPS have not been established. Peritoneal pathological parameters of groups that did and did not develop EPS were compared using peritoneal biopsy tissues at the time of cessation of PD, and it was found that the L/V ratio could be an independent predictor of EPS development. In Japan, 20% of PD patients are receiving combination therapy, which shows promising results. However, some problems, such as the risk of EPS, still limit long-term PD. Key Messages: PD treatment is changing as patients' situations change and with advances in technology. It is necessary to translate evidence to Japan from overseas reports and ISPD guidelines.