Peritoneal dialysis update 1994.

Abstract

Each year there are over 400 papers published in the field of peritoneal dialysis. In this review I have touched on only a few highlights of some of the more active areas of investigation and development. The advances in controlling peritonitis rates with the Y-set have been dramatic and have resulted in peritonitis rates in many centers less than one episode per 24 patient months. Technique survivals have also improved with lower peritonitis rates. The enormous literature on new approaches to treatment and new understandings of host defenses are beyond the scope of this review. There are also many advances in peritoneal access. We now have many new types of catheters under investigation such as the Swan-Neck Missouri catheter and the Moncrief-Popovich catheter, with complete burial of the catheter until eventual externalization for CAPD training. There have been major advances in understanding the normal healing of exit sites and the early diagnosis and treatment of exit-site infections. All the extensive literature on catheter development in the management of exit sites will be reviewed elsewhere. I have focused primarily on an update of worldwide demographics, some of the new findings in peritoneal transport, the use of low-calcium solutions, experiences with EPO, new thinking about adequacy and nutrition, and finally, on recent comparisons of CAPD and hemodialysis.