Comparison of peritoneal transport characteristics at the second week and at six months of peritoneal dialysis commencement

Abstract

Peritoneal equilibration test (PET) is an important tool for managing peritoneal dialysis (PD) prescription. The Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) guidelines suggest that the first PET be performed 4-8 weeks after PD commencement. The main reason for this delay is because of the peritoneal membrane might change its character once it is exposed to the glucose based dialysate. In this study, we compared PET 2 weeks after PD commencement to PET after 6 months to evaluate the changes in the peritoneal membrane character with time. This study included 126 patients who underwent PD initiation between March 2007 and December 2011. The PET was performed as per the standard protocol at 2nd week and 6th month after PD initiation. Transport status was categorized as low, low average, high average, and high as per the standard definition. There was no change in transport character in 115 patients (91.2%) between the two PET measurements. When the Early PET at 2nd week and 6th month PET data were analyzed, no significant changes were observed in measured D/P creatinine (0.59 ± 0.14 vs. 0.62 ± 0.14 respectively P = 0.26) and D/D0 Glucose (0.46 ± 0.12 vs. 0.46 ± 0.11, P = 0.65). Using the Bland-Altman analysis the repeatability coefficients were 0.27 and 0.25 for creatinine and glucose values respectively. In our study, the PET performed at the 2nd week are similar to that of the 6th month PET in 91.2% of our patients and the test did not significantly change with time. In conclusion, we could do PET early at 2nd week to assess the peritoneal membrane character and this would help in proper dialysis prescription to the patients.