PD Catheter Not Working

Discussions for Patients, Family, and Friends PD For Patients
1

Hello Group,

In March of 2009 my PD Catheter stop working. I went in to have surgery to hsve the scar tissue removed and to have it repositioned. I had an access catheter placed in my neck to start hemo. After four weeks of healing, the PD Catheter is still not working. I went in for X-rays, but it is not showing anything wrong. I met with the Surgeon and he said it was working after the surgery. He said, it may have clod up again. He spoke to my Kidney specialist and they recommended removing the PD Catheter or going back in trying to reposition it again. I want a second opinion before I go into another surgery again.

Mr. Larkin

2

Hi Mr. Larkin,

You are not alone in having challenges related to your PD catheter. In fact, I would venture to say that PD catheter challenges may even be the most common reason for folks to post in these message boards. If you do a search for “PD Catheter”, LOTS of threads come up. I think that if you read them, you’ll find out how other folks did and what worked for them. Here’s the search: http://forums.homedialysis.org/search.php?searchid=106894

3

What have you decided about the pd cath?

4

Hi, I am 2 weeks on peritoneal dialysis. I’ve got a problem with my weight it is gradually increasing.I don’t know what to do- I have a very severe diet- so I don’t think it could be fat growing. The dialysis solution is not coming out properly. So if it must be at least 2l it is only 1, 7l, my dialysis nurse suggested to put stronger concentration, and it worked for 3 days and then again started. Even if I put A+B+C the solution after that is 2l or less. What can be wrong? Maybe the PD doesn’t work for me?

5

It’s a bit soon to say that PD isn’t working for you. Even using 4.25 solution for ALL 4 exchanges EVERY day, the most you could gain based on the extra calories is one pound per week. So, the problem is more likely that you are retaining some of the PD fluid. I’m not quite clear on the numbers you’re using, though (and not a PD nurse). How many mL of fluid do you put in, and how many do you get out?

Have you had a PET to see how your membrane is working? (You can read about that here: http://www.homedialysis.org/resources/tom/200801/).

Oh, would you mind describing your “very severe” diet, too? Are you trying to lose weight?

6

In addition to whether your body is absorbing dialysate, some things that can reduce how well dialysate drains include:

  • Constipation
  • Clogged catheter
  • Flipped catheter (internal end is no longer low near the rectum)

It’s best to not to use the high sugar content PD solution because it can damage the peritoneal lining so it does not transport wastes and fluid very well.