Allergic Eosinophilic Dermatitis Due to Silicone Rubber: A Rare but Troublesome Complication of the Tenckhoff Catheter

Abstract

A 42-year-old Japanese woman developed an eczematous skin rash around the catheter exit during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). The same kind of lesion developed around a Scribner shunt exit. Skin biopsy indicated chronic eosinophilic dermatitis. In the patch test she developed an allergic reaction to the silicone rubber catheter but not to the antiseptic solutions. Based on these findings, we concluded that her “eczematous” rash represented an allergic response to silicone rubber in the peritoneal catheter. To this date the literature contains no reports of such a catheter complication in CAPD. Catheter complications in patients on CAPD are mainly infection and mechanical dysfunction such as poor drainage or leaks (I, 2). Eosinophilic dermatitis around the catheter exit caused by the silicone rubber is extremely uncommon (3). As yet no reports have been published concerning this rare catheter complication.