My father has been on PD since March of 2022. However, they didn’t do a PET scan until August. The results showed an absorbent peritoneum. They added a cycle and lowered his dwell time.
We use the manual drain option on his cycler daily because there seems to be a lot of fluid in him, but it’s several hours after dialysis is finished. I’m afraid he’s absorbing excess waste fluid during the delay. Should we adjust his start time so we can drain him as soon as dialysis is finished?
He should have had a peritoneal equilibration test (PET) when he first started and every 4 months if he’s in the U.S. and the clinic is complying with dialysis regulations. His nephrologist should prescribe his dialysis treatments to address the results of the PET. I’d suggest you ask his nephrologist and home training nurse if his dialysis prescription is correct based on the PET results. You might ask about the manual drain you’re doing to remove extra fluid. If he’s a “high transporter” according to his PET, he should do short dwells and frequent exchanges to avoid absorbing the dialysate. Here’s an article that describes the PET and how to interpret the results.