I was on PD from 1999 to 2005 and then had to switch to daily nocturnal home hemo after a series if exit site, tunnel and peritoneal cavity infections and subsequent loss of filtering ability (hardly any UF). Since then I have been on daily home hemo.
My nephrologist suddenly suggested a couple of days back that we try putting a PD catheter laproscopically and try PD.
While this has me all excited because I would prefer PD any day to hemo, I wanted to check if this was at all possible. Does the peritoneal membrane and the entire system in there ‘recover’ so-to-speak? My neph says maybe the adhesions that had formed might have dissolved.
Dear Kamal,
The short answer to your question is yes, the peritoneal membrane may recover after a period of “resting”, that is, no exposure to dialysis solution or inflammation from infections. So if you agree to have a new PD catheter placed for a trial of PD, do so with the understanding that it may or may not be successful. It might be adviseable to have the surgeon who places the catheter do so using a laparascope so the peritoneum may be visually examined to determine if adhesions still exist with the option to release them if not too numerous. Unfortunately I do not know of any statistics which would help predict the percent chance of membrane recovery. Hope this is helpful.
Judy Bernardini, RN