[Nutritional status in uremic patients treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Relation with 1 year's evolution].
BACKGROUND: Signs of malnutrition have been detected in patients with chronic renal failure and a possible relation with complications of the disease has been speculated. The aim of the present study was to analyze the nutritional status of a group of patients with the aforementioned diagnosis on a substitutive treatment program with outpatient continuous peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and its relation with complications over one year. METHODS: The nutritional status of 29 of these patients and 22 individuals with normal renal function (controls) with global parameters of body fat, muscular protein and visceral protein being evaluated. The study was repeated at 6 and 12 months after the initial evaluation. The incidence of mortality, need for hospital admission because of complication and episodes of clinical peritonitis were analyzed. RESULTS: More than 70% of the patients presented protein-caloric malnutrition to a greater or lesser degree. This percentage dit not modify throughout the study and was produced at the expense of visceral protein, additionally affecting the fat and muscular protein of the males. Mortality, need for admission and the number of cases of peritonitis were greater in those presenting the lowest fat parameters with these complications beings foreseen from determined fat values. CONCLUSIONS: These patients have malnutrition which is related with the complications in the course of substitutive therapy making surveillance and nutritional support necessary.