Current concepts in the management of peritonitis in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

During the past five years, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) has become recognized as a major form of therapy for end-stage renal disease. Despite continued advances, peritonitis remains a major limiting factor in the widespread application of CAPD. The pathogenesis of CAPD peritonitis is strikingly different from that of surgical peritonitis. Not only are the sources of infection and the microbiologic findings dissimilar, but the severity of infection is markedly different. Moreover, in CAPD peritonitis, both biofilms (extracellular slime substances) associated with microbial growth on the implanted silicone catheter and compromised local defenses (depletion of opsonins and intracellular survival of certain microorganisms) are of pathogenic importance. Once the diagnosis of peritonitis is suspected, therapy should be instituted immediately. However, the optimal antibiotic regimen and the best route, dose, and duration of antibiotic administration remain unknown because of a paucity of randomized, controlled studies. New approaches to the prevention and treatment of CAPD peritonitis are being evaluated; if this infection can be successfully managed, CAPD promises to become increasingly popular for the treatment of chronic renal failure.