Peritoneal dialysis related infections in a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

To detect the incidence of and risk factors for infections among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD).

A retrospective cohort study was conducted at the PD unit of King Fahad Medical City. End-stage renal disease patients above the age of 12 years who were undergoing PD management between January 2006 and March 2016 were included.

One hundred PD patients were enrolled in the study and examined over a total observation period of 2,553 patient-months. The leading ESRD etiology was hypertension (26.3%). The mean duration of PD was 28.05 months. A total of 45 patients developed 101 episodes of technique-related infections (TRIs). Peritonitis represented the majority of these episodes (90 episodes), with an overall rate of one episode per 28.3 patient-months. TRIs were mostly caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci. A total of 12 patients developed non-technique related infections (NTRIs). There was a statistically significant difference between patients with TRI and non-infected patients regarding the presence of diabetes and duration of dialysis. No peritonitis-related deaths were noted. In total, 21 patients continued on PD and 18 patients were shifted to hemodialysis (HD). Conclusion: In our setting, ESRD patients undergoing PD are more susceptible to TRIs than NTRIs. Diabetes increases the risk of developing TRIs. The high incidence of coagulase-negative staphylococcal TRI suggests touch contamination.