Peritoneal Dialysis International: Journal of the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis

In Europe, the number of elderly end-stage kidney disease patients is increasing. Few of those patients receive peritoneal dialysis (PD), as many cannot perform PD autonomously. Assisted PD programmes are available in most European countries, but the percentage of patients receiving assisted PD varies considerably. Hence, we assessed which factors are associated with the availability of an assisted PD programme at a centre level and whether the availability of this programme is associated with proportion of home dialysis patients.

An online survey was sent to healthcare professionals of European nephrology units. After selecting one respondent per centre, the associations were explored by χ ² tests and (ordinal) logistic regression.

In total, 609 respondents completed the survey. Subsequently, 288 respondents from individual centres were identified; 58% worked in a centre with an assisted PD programme. Factors associated with availability of an assisted PD programme were Western European and Scandinavian countries (OR: 5.73; 95% CI: 3.07–10.68), non-academic centres (OR: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.09–3.72) and centres with a dedicated team for education (OR: 2.87; 95% CI: 1.35–6.11). Most Eastern & Central European respondents reported that the proportion of incident and prevalent home dialysis patients was <10% (72% and 63%), while 27% of Scandinavian respondents reported a proportion of >30% for both incident and prevalent home dialysis patients. Availability of an assisted PD programme was associated with a higher incidence (cumulative OR: 1.91; 95% CI: 1.21–3.01) and prevalence (cumulative OR: 2.81; 95% CI: 1.76–4.47) of patients on home dialysis.

Assisted PD was more commonly offered among non-academic centres with a dedicated team for education across Europe, especially among Western European and Scandinavian countries where higher incidence and prevalence of home dialysis patients was reported.

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) remains underutilised and unplanned start of dialysis further diminishes the likelihood of patients starting on PD, although outcomes are equal to haemodialysis (HD).

A survey was sent to members of EuroPD and regional societies presenting a case vignette of a 48-year-old woman not previously known to the nephrology department and who arrives at the emergency department with established end-stage kidney disease (unplanned start), asking which dialysis modality would most likely be chosen at their respective centre. We assessed associations between the modality choices for this case vignette and centre characteristics and PD-related practices.

Of 575 respondents, 32.8%, 32.2% and 35.0% indicated they would start unplanned PD, unplanned HD or unplanned HD with intention to educate patient on PD later, respectively. Likelihood for unplanned start of PD was only associated with quality of structure of the pre-dialysis program. Structure of pre-dialysis education program, PD program in general, likelihood to provide education on PD to unplanned starters, good collaboration with the PD access team and taking initiatives to enhance home-based therapies increased the likelihood unplanned patients would end up on PD.

Well-structured pre-dialysis education on PD as a modality, good connections to dedicated PD catheter placement teams and additional initiatives to enhance home-based therapies are key to grow PD programs. Centres motivated to grow their PD programs seem to find solutions to do so.

Functional peritoneal dialysis (PD) access is critical to the success of PD therapy. The aim of this review is to describe the spectrum of definitions and methods employed in the measurement of unique outcomes across PD access trials particularly focusing on the outcomes of PD access flow restriction and operative-related outcomes.

Using Cochrane CENTRAL registry, MEDLINE, and EMBASE, we searched for studies restricted to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving interventions related to PD access without restrictions on age, language, or publication year. Studies were screened and data abstracted by two independent reviewers. Definitions, outcome measures, and time points of measurements were captured and documented separately. Unique combinations of these variables resulted in reporting the different ways of measurements.

Of the 1768 screened studies, 47 RCTs were included among which 817 PD access outcomes were grouped into 7 broad categories. Interventions evaluated in the RCTs were catheter type/configuration (n = 17), insertion technique (n = 15), multiple interventions (n = 3), and other (6 interventions, n = 12). PD access flow restriction (a subcategory of mechanical outcomes) and operative-related outcomes were reported in 91% and 58% of the included trials, respectively. Tip migration was the most frequently reported flow restriction outcome (59% of RCTs) followed by catheter dysfunction (23% of RCTs). Of the components utilized in definition of flow restriction, description of the impaired flow was reported in 37% of RCTs, need for intervention in 42% of RCTs, and presumed etiology of flow restriction in 60% of RCTs.

Variability exists in the definitions, reporting methods, choice of outcomes, and analysis of the PD access outcomes across RCTs. Operative-related outcomes remain underreported across RCTs. Outcomes relating to PD access flow restriction were the most common complications reported in the included RCTs but were reported heterogeneously with variability in reporting of the three key components of its definition including description and severity of the flow restriction, the need for intervention and etiology of flow restriction. In the future, defining PD access flow restriction should include all of these components to better evaluate the comparative effect of various PD access interventions.

The approach to peritoneal catheter malfunction consists usually in a diagnostic and therapeutic sequence of laxative prescription, abdominal radiography, brushing of the catheter, guide-wire manipulation or fluoroscopy and in the end of a videolaparoscopy (VLS) rescue intervention. Ultrasound (US) is able to find out major causes of peritoneal catheter malfunction, however without a clearly defined diagnostic value. The aim of the study was to validate the diagnostic capability of US in catheter malfunction compared to the diagnostic reference of VLS.

US scans of the subcutaneous and intraperitoneal segment of the catheter were performed prior to a VLS intervention in 40 adult patients presenting persistent catheter malfunction within a prospective multicentre study. Laxative prescription and brushing of the catheter lumen were undertaken prior to US scan. US diagnosis was compared to the corresponding at VLS, kappa coefficient calculated and the causes of mismatch analysed.

In US, causes of persistent malfunction were catheter dislocation combined with omental wrapping in 21 cases, omental wrapping without dislocation in 11 cases, dislocation only in 4 cases, adherences to non-omental structures in 3 cases and entrapment in the lateral inguinal fossa in 1 case. The US diagnosis corresponded to the respective at VLS in 36 of 40 cases, resulting in a kappa coefficient of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.78–1.00). The discrepancies were due to improper visualization of the catheter between omentum and intestinal loops, resulting in an erroneous US diagnosis of omental wrapping.

This study suggests that US might have a pivotal role in the diagnostic approach to peritoneal catheter dysfunction.

Most studies on volume–outcome association used the number of patients at a particular period as the independent variable. However, peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a chronic treatment, and center volume usually changes over a patient’s treatment period. Accordingly, this study used the time-varying center volume to explore the volume–outcome association in PD.

We conducted a nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study, which included patients who began chronic PD between 2001 and 2010. The risk factors of 5-year technique failure and mortality were analyzed using cause-specific and subdistribution hazard models, respectively. The annual number of patients initiating PD in each patient’s treatment center was modeled as a time-varying variable with four categories.

We included 9071 patients who started PD in 100 centers where the number of incident patients ranged from 1 to 107 patients per year (median, 25; interquartile range, 13–42). The estimated 5-year patient and technique survival rates were 64.7% and 66.6%, respectively. Being treated in centers in the largest volume category (the number of incident PD patients ≥43 per year) was associated with significantly lower cause-specific and cumulative hazards for technique failure. No association was found between facility volume and hazards of mortality.

Receiving PD in high-volume facilities was associated with a lower risk in technique failure. No association was found between facility volume and mortality risk.