Peritoneal catheter survival and complications in end stage renal disease

Peritoneal catheter survival and complications were determined retrospectively over an eight-year period. Two hundred and twenty-two peritoneal catheters were placed in 124 patients; the 107 failures, which required catheter replacement, were due to dislodgment (38), one-way obstruction (31), peritonitis (28), leakage (7), and tunnel infection (3). Forty per cent of all catheter failures occurred within the first week due mainly to dislodgment and obstruction. Females had significantly more leakage-related catheter failures. Diabetic patients had fewer total catheter failures and fewer failures due to peritonitis. Over a 24-month period no difference was seen in the number or types of failures between straight and curled Tenckhoff catheters. By life-table analysis cumulative per cent catheter survival was 45% at 52 weeks; this was not affected by sex, type of catheter, or use of radiography during placement. In patients with multiple peritoneal catheter placements, subsequent catheters did not have a lower survival.