The negative impact of early peritonitis on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients.
BACKGROUND
Peritonitis rate has been reported to be associated with technique failure and overall mortality in previous literatures. However, information on the impact of the timing of the first peritonitis episode on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients is sparse. The aim of this research is to study the influence of time to first peritonitis on clinical outcomes, including technique failure, patient mortality and dropout from peritoneal dialysis (PD).


METHODS
A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted over 10 years at a single PD unit in Taiwan. A total of 124 patients on CAPD with at least one peritonitis episode comprised the study subjects, which were dichotomized by the median of time to first peritonitis into either early peritonitis patients or late peritonitis patients. Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze the correlation of the timing of first peritonitis with clinical outcomes.


RESULTS
Early peritonitis patients were older, more diabetic and had lower serum levels of creatinine than the late peritonitis patients. Early peritonitis patients were associated with worse technique survival, patient survival and stay on PD than late peritonitis patients, as indicated by Kaplan-Meier analysis (log-rank test, p = 0.04, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively). In the multivariate Cox regression model, early peritonitis was still a significant predictor for technique failure (hazard ratio (HR), 0.54; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.30 - 0.98), patient mortality (HR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.13 - 0.92) and dropout from PD (HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.30 - 0.82). In continuous analyses, a 1-month increase in the time to the first peritonitis episode was associated with a 2% decreased risk of technique failure (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.97 - 0.99), a 3% decreased risk of patient mortality (HR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.95 - 0.99), and a 2% decreased risk of dropout from PD (HR, 98%; 95% CI, 0.97 - 0.99). Peritonitis rate was inversely correlated with time to first peritonitis according to the Spearman analysis (r = -0.64, p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Time to first peritonitis is significantly correlated with clinical outcomes of peritonitis patients with early peritonitis patients having poor prognosis. Patients with shorter time to first peritonitis were prone to having a higher peritonitis rate.
Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan; Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan; Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Yao-Peng
YP
Hsieh
Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan; Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Shu-Chuan
SC
Wang
Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan; Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Chia-Chu
CC
Chang
Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan; Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Yao-Ko
YK
Wen
Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan; Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Ping-Fang
PF
Chiu
Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan; Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan; Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Yu
Y
Yang
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010531:Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013624:Taiwan; D013997:Time Factors
Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD); early peritonitis; patient survival; peritonitis rate; technique failure; time to first peritonitis