High-quality Peritoneal Dialysis Research Articles

Trends in Automated Peritoneal Dialysis Prescriptions in a Large Dialysis Organization in the United States.

Changes in health care policies and recognition of patient benefit have contributed to increases in home-based dialysis, including peritoneal dialysis (PD). Frequent monitoring and early individualization of PD prescriptions are key prerequisites for the delivery of high-quality PD. The present analysis aimed to assess variations in PD prescriptions among incident automated PD (APD) patients who remain on PD for 120+ days. This retrospective analysis examined data from patients within a large dialysis organization that initiated PD with APD between 2015 and 2019. PD prescription data was described by calendar year, timing of PD, and residual renal function categories. Changes in prescriptions from PD initiation (day 1) to day 120 were assessed descriptively. The cohort included 11,659 patients. The mean age at PD initiation increased from 2015 (56 (15) years) through 2019 (58 (15) years), whereas most other variables demonstrated no clear temporal change. Most patients (86%) had nighttime PD prescribed, with an average of 4.9 (1.3) cycles per day, a mean total treatment volume of 9.3 (2.5) L, and a median daily total dwell time of 7 (6,9.5) hours. Relative to day 1 nighttime prescriptions, there were 1) small increases in the proportion of patients receiving 3 or fewer cycles per day and those receiving 6+ cycles per day, 2) a 100 ml mean increase in fill volume per exchange, and 3) a mean 0.5 L increase in total nighttime treatment volume at day 120. When changes in nighttime APD prescriptions were examined at the patient level, 49% of patients had day 120 prescriptions that were unchanged from their initial prescription. In the largest analysis of incident APD prescriptions conducted in the United States to date, the vast majority of patients were prescribed nocturnal PD only with limited variability across the first 4 months of therapy.

Peritoneal dialysis adequacy: a paradigm shift.

For the past 30 years, nephrologists have focused on a single minimal threshold of Kt/Vurea to determine the adequacy of peritoneal dialysis (PD). To date, there is no evidence that shows Kt/Vurea to be a good surrogate measure of uremic symptom control or nutritional state in patients on PD. Volume of distribution (Vurea) generally is considered equivalent to total body water (TBW). Yet, accurate determination of TBW is difficult. The most recent International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis practice recommendations on prescribing high-quality PD emphasized incorporation of multiple measures rather than the single value of Kt/Vurea. These measures include shared decision-making between the patient and the care team and assessment of health-related quality of life, burden of uremic symptoms, presence of residual kidney function, volume status, and biochemical measures including serum potassium and bicarbonate levels. In some cases, PD prescriptions can be tailored to the patient priorities and goals of care, such as in frail and pediatric patients. Overall, there has been a paradigm shift in providing high-quality care to PD patients. Instead of focusing on small solute clearance in the form of Kt/Vurea, nephrologists are encouraged to use a more comprehensive assessment of the patient as a whole.

Spiritual well-being and its relationship with patient characteristics and other patient-reported outcomes in peritoneal dialysis patients: Findings from the PDOPPS.

Spiritual well-being (SWB), an individual's understanding of the meaning and purpose of life, may help patients with chronic or terminal illnesses cope with their diseases. This study aimed to assess SWB in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD), as well as its relationship with patient characteristics and patient-reported outcomes (PRO). The data were obtained from questionnaires that formed part of the PD Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (PDOPPS). Measures used in this study were SWB scores derived from the WHO quality of life, spirituality, religiousness and personal beliefs (WHOQOL-SRPB) tool including 32 items from eight facets; physical (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores of the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12), Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-10 (CES-D-10) scores, burden of kidney disease scores and functional status scores. Overall, 529 out of 848 participants (62%) completely responded to the questionnaires and were included in the analysis. Over two-thirds of PD patients (70%) had moderate or higher SWB scores. The SWB scores were significantly lower in patients with age >65 years and unemployed status. SWB scores positively correlated with higher PCS, MCS, burden of kidney disease scores and functional status scores, while negatively correlated with depression scores by CES-D-10 scale. Patients who reported significant depressive symptoms (CES-D-10 score ≥ 10) had significantly lower SWB scores. Better SWB was significantly associated with better health-related QOL (HRQOL) and the absence of depressive symptoms. SWB may be an essential consideration in the delivery of high-quality PD.

Evolving outcomes of peritoneal dialysis: secular trends at a single large center over three decades.

BackgroundPeritoneal dialysis (PD) is improving as a renal replacement therapy for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. We analyzed the main outcomes of PD over the last three decades at a single large-scale PD center with an established high-quality care system.MethodsAs a retrospective cohort study, we included participants (n = 1,203) who began PD between 1990 and 2019. Major PD-related outcomes were compared among the three 10-year cohorts.ResultsThe 1,203 participants were 58.3% male with a mean age of 47.9 ± 13.8 years. The median PD treatment duration was 45 months (interquartile range, 19–77 months); 362 patients (30.1%) transferred to hemodialysis, 289 (24.0%) received kidney transplants, and 224 (18.6%) died. Overall, the 5- and 8-year adjust patient survival rates were 64% and 49%, respectively. Common causes of death included infection (n = 55), cardiac (n = 38), and cerebrovascular (n = 17) events. The 5- and 8-year technique survival rates were 77% and 62%, respectively, with common causes of technique failure being infection (42.3%) and solute/water clearance problems (22.7%). The 5-year patient survival significantly improved over time (64% for the 1990–1999 cohort vs. 93% for the 2010–2019 cohort). The peritonitis rate also substantially decreased over time, from 0.278 episodes/patient-year (2000–2004) to 0.162 episodes/patient-year (2015–2019).ConclusionPD is an effective treatment option for ESRD patients. There was a substantial improvement in the patient survival and peritonitis rates over time. Establishing adequate infrastructure and an effective system for high-quality PD therapy may be warranted to improve PD outcomes.

Volume management as a key dimension of a high-quality PD prescription.

Appropriate volume control is one of the key goals in a peritoneal dialysis (PD) prescription. As such it is an important component of the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) guideline for "High-quality PD prescription" necessitating a review of the literature on volume management. The workgroup recognized the importance of including within its scope measures of volume status and blood pressure in prescribing high-quality PD therapy. A Medline and PubMed search for publications addressing volume status and its management in PD since the publication of the 2015 ISPD Adult Cardiovascular and Metabolic Guidelines, from October 2014 through to July 2019, was conducted. There were no randomized controlled trials on blood pressure intervention and six randomized trials of bioimpedance-guided volume management. Generally, all studies were of small sample size, short duration, and used surrogate markers as primary outcomes. As a consequence, only "practice points" were drawn. High-quality goal-directed PD prescription should aim to achieve and maintain clinical euvolemia taking residual kidney function and its preservation into account, so that both fluid removal from peritoneal ultrafiltration and urine output are considered and residual kidney function is not compromised. Blood pressure should be included as a key objective parameter in assessing the quality of PD prescription but there is currently no evidence for a specific target in PD. Clinical examination remains the keystone of routine clinical care. High-quality goal-directed PD prescription should include volume management as one of the key dimensions.

Facilitators and Barriers to Care in Rural Emergency Departments in Alberta for Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis (PD): An Interpretive Descriptive Study.

Background:Home dialysis offers many advantages to patients, but they require support to manage a home-based therapy such as peritoneal dialysis (PD). A rural emergency department provides an important safety net for patients requiring medical care, including managing complications of PD, such as peritonitis. Patients living in northern Alberta are spread out geographically and can be far from a PD training center, yet anecdotally, many rural sites do not provide care for these patients.Objective:Our aim was to identify the facilitators and barriers to nursing care in rural emergency departments in northern Alberta for patients receiving PD.Design:A qualitative interpretive descriptive approach was used.Setting:Rural emergency departments across northern Alberta.Participants:Purposeful sampling was used to seek participants from 1 of 4 rural acute care hospital emergency departments in northern Alberta. Six registered nurses and 1 licensed practical nurse agreed to participate in the study. They ranged in experience from 2 to 18 years. Two of the participants were unit managers, 2 were clinical nurse educators (CNEs), and the other 3 were staff nurses with 1 of them in a leadership position.Methods:Individual semistructured interview were conducted over the telephone. The interview guide was developed based on a review of the literature. Interviews continued until no new information was obtained, that is, data were saturated. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Field notes were recorded. A constant comparative approach was used for analysis. The coding process was both deductive (drawing from the literature) and inductive.Results:Seven participants were interviewed, and there were 4 main themes and 1 subtheme that emerged from the analysis: education (along with the subtheme of resources) was seen as both facilitators and barriers; patient/family ability to perform PD; infrequent exposure; and physician supports. Continuing education about PD was a facilitator, and the lack of education was a barrier to provision of PD care. Similarly, availability of resource materials about PD and access to a CNE were facilitators, while lack of these resources was a barrier to offering PD care. As PD was not always seen regularly, infrequent exposure was a barrier to offering PD care. Lack of physician supports, both from the locum physicians who were sometimes reluctant to care for these patients and the delays in reaching nephrologists were barriers.Limitations:The findings represent the perceptions of the emergency department nurses who participated. These perceptions may differ from those of nurses who work in other regions of the country. Furthermore, most participants were in a leadership role, and it may be that their perspectives differ from those of front-line nurses.Conclusions:The findings from our study highlight the need for availability of education and resource materials/persons to care for these patients. There is also a need for greater physician support from both local physicians as well as nephrologists to offer high-quality PD care.Trial registration:Not applicable. This study is not a clinical trial. It did not involve prospective assignment of participants to a treatment group.

United Kingdom Catheter Study – Protocol Synopsis

High-quality peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheter insertion pathways are essential for optimal access to the therapy. Dialysis outcomes are influenced by a range of patient and center-related factors, and there is a need to better understand these so that catheter insertion pathways can be better matched to individual circumstances. To examine how patient- and center-related factors influence the choice of catheter insertion pathways for a PD patient, and the impact of such factors and pathways on patient outcomes, and specifically, to compare the occurrence of and recovery from PD catheter-related adverse events and mortality in individuals who had surgical catheter insertion with those who had medical catheter insertion, and evaluate health economics. A prospective multi-center cohort study of incident PD patients at catheter insertion. This is an ancillary study nested within the International Peritoneal Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (PDOPPS). Patients will be recruited during a 30-month recruitment period at 45 United Kingdom (UK) renal facilities, with a minimum 12-month follow-up. A graphical Markov model will be fitted to describe the associations between patient demographics, comorbidities, and catheter insertion pathways that are not explained by center practices and their impact on the occurrence of catheter-related adverse events, and patient-reported outcomes. The model will also explore the extent to which the catheter insertion pathway is determined by the center practice patterns, accounting for patient mix. Multi-state models will compare the rate of occurrence of a PD catheter-related adverse event, recovery from this, and mortality in individuals who had surgical catheter insertion compared with those who had medical catheter insertion, accounting for competing events, and adjusting for patient and center factors. A health economics evaluation will establish which, if any, catheter insertion pathway is superior in terms of cost effectiveness. The study will provide information on which catheter insertion pathways are better according to individual characteristics and whether it is acceptable for dialysis units to rely on a single catheter insertion technique or whether they should invest in developing flexible pathways that incorporate both medical and surgical PD catheter insertion techniques.

Key factors for a high-quality peritoneal dialysis program--the role of the PD team and continuous quality improvement.

The proportion of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) has increased very fast in China over the last decade. Renji Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, is a recognized high-quality PD unit with a high PD utilization rate, excellent patient and technique survival (1-year and 5-year patient survival rate of 93% and 71%, and 1-year and 5-year technique survival of 96% and 82%, respectively), low peritonitis rate and a well-documented good quality of life of the treated patients. We believe that a dedicated and experienced PD team, a structured patient training program, continuous patient support, establishing and utilizing standardized protocols, starting PD with low dialysis dose, monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs), and continuous quality improvement (CQI) are the key factors underlying this successful PD program.