[Peritonitis among patients treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis]

A retrospective study of 51 consecutive patients treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) during a total of 736 months is presented. Forty-one episodes of peritonitis were found. Thirty-three patients did not experience peritonitis. One patient had six episodes of peritonitis. The time to first and second episode of peritonitis was 487 days (16.2 months) and 1005 days (33.5 months) respectively. The incidence of peritonitis was 0.67 episodes per patient-year, and was not influenced by either sex, diabetes or previous abdominal surgery. The time to the first episode of peritonitis was equal in patients suffering from one vs two or more episodes of peritonitis. Two patients suffered from tunnel infection. Initial treatment with vancomysin and gentamycin (before knowing the results of microbiological culturing) was adequate in 90% of the peritonitis episodes. Sterile peritonitis was found in 12% of the cases. No relapse of peritonitis was observed. Six patients suffered from eleven cases of reinfection. An optimal surgical strategy as well as vancomycin plus gentamicin treatment of peritonitis are advised when a reduction in infection rates is required