A New, Safe, and Effective Technique for Percutaneous Insertion of a Peritoneal Dialysis Catheter

A properly functioning peritoneal catheter is an essential element of effective peritoneal dialysis (PD). Currently, there are three techniques available for PD catheter placement, which include open surgery, laparoscopic surgery, and percutaneous catheter placement (PCP). Currently, no particular catheter placement approach has been proven with certainty to provide superior outcomes. We present a new modified PCP method with the use of the Veress needle covered with an intravascular catheter (IC) and preliminary clinical results of PD catheter placements with this new technique. The endpoints used in the study were 1-year technical survival of the catheter, and the incidence of early (1 month) mechanical as well as infection complications. The catheter was implanted in 24 patients. The catheter survival rate was 100%; however, in two cases, the catheters were removed due to complications not associated with PD treatment. No early mechanical complications such as bleeding, hematoma, perforations, internal organ damage, exit site leaks, or hernia in the place of insertion were observed. Similarly, no early infectious complications were observed. During the 1-year follow-up, no catheter migration occurred. Our results showed that the new PCP technique is a safe and easy procedure that minimizes the occurrence of both mechanical and infectious complications and ensures good catheter survival.