Peritoneal Dialysis in Micro-preemie With NEC Using Pigtail Catheter: Case Report and Literature Review

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a commonly encountered condition in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), especially among micro-preemies. Management of AKI is challenging in these micro-preemies and peritoneal dialysis (PD) is the preferred modality when medical treatment fails. A 27-week-old female baby with a birth weight of 940 grams was delivered via emergency cesarean section for grade 2 abruption. She developed AKI secondary to necrotizing enterocolitis. PD was initiated on day 19 with a neonatal pigtail catheter and discontinued 24 hours after normalization of kidney function tests with adequate urine output on day 20. However, the patient died due to complications of short bowel syndrome. This is the first case report of a micro-premie on whom PD was performed sucessfully using a pigtail catheter. PD is a safe, effective, feasible, and life-saving therapy in micro-preemies with AKI and necrotizing enterocolitis.