Comparing peritonitis in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients versus automated peritoneal dialysis patients.

The purpose of our study was to compare the incidence of peritonitis between continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) treatment (Group I) and automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) treatment (Group II) taking into account the same population. We compared 20 patients with a follow-up of 215 patient-months on CAPD and 252 patient-months on APD. Demographic data, diagnosis, peritoneal equilibration test (PET) results, adequacy, and peritonitis rate were analyzed. Diagnoses included glomerulopathy 35%, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) 20%, Type II diabetes 10%, systemic lupus erythematosus 5%, interstitial nephritis 5%, nephrolitiasis 5%, and unknown 20%. PET results showed that the group consisted of 30% high transporters, 45% high-average transporters, and 25% low-average transporters. Kt/V for Group I was 1.3 +/- 0.3, and for Group II, 1.83 +/- 0.48. Creatinine clearance for Group I was 43.64 +/- 7.31 L/week/1.73 m2, and for Group II, 52.42 +/- 13.47 L/week/1.73 m2. Group I presented a peritonitis rate of 8.3 episodes/patient-month, and Group II presented a rate of 18.9 episodes/patient-month. Gram-positive organisms were responsible for 49.8% of episodes of peritonitis in Group I (S. aureus 26.6%, S. epidermidis 16.6%, others 10%) and 83% of peritonitis episodes in Group II (S. epidermidis 46.6%, S. aureus 20%). Gram-negative organisms were responsible for 16.5% of episodes of peritonitis in Group I. No gram-negative peritonitis was seen in Group II. APD patients developed two cases of candida peritonitis. Our preliminary results show that Group II exhibited a decrease in peritonitis rate while achieving better adequacy. In CAPD and APD peritonitis, gram-positive organisms predominated. In APD, we observed an increase in S. epidermidis incidence. No gram-negative organisms were observed in APD. It seems that APD is a safer treatment owing to the lower peritonitis incidence.