24-years' experience of peritoneal dialysis in a university hospital dialysis center: Management and outcome

The aim of our study was to analyze the results of peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatment in all patients treated with PD in our dialysis center.

This is a retrospective observational study in which we included all PD patients from the start of PD treatment in 2000 until the end of follow-up on 30 September 2024.

During an observation period of 24 years, 89 patients started PD treatment. Two patients who started PD treatment due to heart failure were excluded. The mean age of the patients was 47 ± 14 years, 61 (70.1%) were men. During PD treatment, 30 (34.5%) patients developed PD-related peritonitis after a median PD duration of 1,174 ± 936 days. During follow-up, 27 (31%) were converted to hemodialysis, 24 (27.6%) received a kidney transplant, 15 (17.2%) patients died during PD treatment, and the remaining 21 patients were still being treated with PD at the end of follow-up. The median duration of PD for all patients was 1,414 ± 1,253 days. Cardiovascular disease (50%) and infection (50%) were the most common causes of death among patients. The comparison between surviving and deceased PD patients showed that surviving patients had a higher baseline serum albumin level (37.7 vs. 34.5 g/L; p = 0.004). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a worse outcome for diabetics (log rank (Mantel-Cox) = 5.457; p = 0.019).

Cardiovascular disease and infection were common causes of death in PD patients. Peritonitis was the most common cause of PD discontinuation. Diabetics undergoing PD had a poorer survival rate. The average duration of PD treatment was 3.9 years. The average time until the first peritonitis was 3.2 years.