The self-locating catheter: clinical experience and follow-up.
BACKGROUND
The self-locating catheter invented by Nicola Di Paolo has been used increasingly in Italy and elsewhere since 1994, with about a thousand patients currently implanted every year. Twelve grams of tungsten inserted into the tip of the conventional Tenckhoff catheter during extrusion does not significantly change its form, but suffices to keep the tip firmly in the Douglas cavity.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of the present study was to confirm our preliminary results in a large population of peritoneal dialysis patients.


METHODS
16 Italian nephrology departments.


RESULTS
In addition to confirming the validity of the new catheter, the present results show that patients with the new catheter have fewer episodes of peritonitis, tunnel infection, cuff extrusion, catheter malfunction, obstruction, and leakage.


CONCLUSIONS
The present multicenter control study confirms preliminary results and demonstrates that complications of peritoneal dialysis, such as cuff extrusion, infection, peritonitis, early leakage, and obstruction, are statistically less frequent in patients with self-locating catheters than in patients with classic Tenckhoff catheters.
Di Paolo
Nicola
N
Nephrology, University Hospital, Siena, Italy. N.DiPaolo@ao-siena.toscana.it
Capotondo
Luigi
L
Sansoni
Enrico
E
Romolini
Valerio
V
Simola
Matteo
M
Gaggiotti
Enzo
E
Bercia
Roberto
R
Buoncristiani
Umberto
U
Canto
Paola
P
Concetti
Massimo
M
De Vecchi
Amedeo
A
Fatuzzo
Pasquale
P
Giannattasio
Michele
M
La Rosa
Roberto
R
Lopez
Teodoro
T
Lo Piccolo
Giuseppe
G
Melandri
Marcello
M
Vezzoli
Giuseppe
G
Orazi
Ersilia
E
Pacitti
Alfonso
A
Ramello
Adriano
A
Russo
Franco
F
Napoli
Marcello
M
Tessarin
Maria Cristina
MC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling / Q000009:adverse effects*; D020878:Device Removal; D004867:Equipment Design; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis; D014414:Tungsten
D014414:Tungsten