Comparing schedules of daily peritoneal dialysis.

Starting November 1973, peritoneal dialyses have been performed 7 days a week on a group of 18 patients, 11 of whom still on the program. A short daily dialysis technique at a dialysate flow of 2.5 L/hour was used. This group of patients has undergone 9,724 dialyses, 86.8% of which at home.A group of 4 patients had to be switched to hemodialysis. During the last 16 months a total of 5,670 short daily dialyses have been performed, 97.4% of which at home.Another group of 6 patients has undergone Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) for 24 hours daily with 10-liter dialysate containing 3-4.25 g/100 ml dextrose. A total of 967 dialyses have been performed. Peritonitis occurred in 7 instances, and 2 patients had to be switched to hemodialysis.In summary, daily dialysis with either schedule reveals itself suitable for home program and requires a much smaller financial effort from the community. The data presented indicate that CAPD constitutes the most physiological approach to the problem of waste ...