Peritoneal Dialysis

The percentage of patients with kidney failure treated with Peritoneal dialysis (PD) was 5%-10% in economically developed regions like the United States and Western Europe. A percentage of 75% was registered in Mexico, where PD was the first choice for kidney replacement therapy (KRT), due to the higher costs of hemodialysis and difficulty accessing a hemodialysis unit. In PD, the peritoneal membrane is used as a dialyzing surface that provides an exchange of solutes and fluid between the peritoneal capillary blood and the dialysis solution that is instilled into the peritoneal cavity. Despite the treatment practice and technical improvements in PD over the past decade, PD-related peritonitis remains the major complication. The non-infectious PD complications are abdominal wall-related hernias, leakages of dialysis fluid, and malfunction of the PD catheter. The epidemiology of PD, PD techniques, basic principles of PD prescription, monitoring of PD adequacy, and PD-related complications was described in the book. The treatment of anemia, mineral bone disease, and nutrition in PD patients, and the prescription of PD in cases of pandemics was also discussed in the book.