Abstract
Catheter malfunction is one of the most important complications of peritoneal dialysis (PD). We have performed minilaparotomy for catheter repair by nephrologists. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the surgery. The surgery was performed 11 times on 10 PD patients with catheter malfunction (3 man, 7 women; mean age 54.3 ± 14.6 years; 4 diabetes, 3 glomerulonephritis, 3 other) at two hospitals. All patients had inflow and/or outflow obstruction. One patient had inserted the PD catheter using conventional surgical technique, and the remaining nine patients had used Moncrief-Popovich technique. Seven patients with catheters embedded using the Moncrief-Popovich technique showed catheter occlusion at the time of externalization. The remaining three patients experienced catheter obstruction 6.0 ± 2.9 months after commencing PD. The cause of obstruction was fibrin in six patients, wrapping by fimbriae of the fallopian tube in two patients, omentum wrapping in two patients. One patient had no blockage in the catheter. Operative time was 97 ± 46 min, and no intraoperative complications were observed. PD was interrupted for 5.9 ± 3.0 days and was resumed without leakage in all patients. However, catheter malfunction recurred in one patient 3 months after the surgery. The mean hospital stay was 22.4 ± 14.7 days. Minilaparotomy by nephrologists is a safety and suitable for the management of catheter malfunction. In addition, it is necessary to always consider the possibility that the catheter has been occluded at the time of externalization in the Moncrief-Popovich technique.
Highlights
The most frequent complications in peritoneal dialysis (PD) are catheter-related infections, but catheter malfunction is well-known as a relatively frequent complication
When PD became widespread in the 1980s, catheter removal or replacement was common as a surgical treatment for catheter obstruction [1]
Laparotomy was selected for these surgeries because nephrologists are not allowed to use laparoscopy in PD catheter-related surgeries at our facilities
Summary
The most frequent complications in peritoneal dialysis (PD) are catheter-related infections, but catheter malfunction is well-known as a relatively frequent complication. When PD became widespread in the 1980s, catheter removal or replacement was common as a surgical treatment for catheter obstruction [1]. In the 1990s, laparoscopy was applied to various surgeries, and laparoscopic surgery for catheter obstruction has been performed [2,3,4]. Laparoscopic surgery shows many advantages for patients compared with laparotomy (Table 1). One of the most important disadvantages of laparoscopic surgery is that expensive medical equipment is required to perform surgery. Surgery requires special skills, and not all surgeons can Sakurada et al Renal Replacement Therapy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
