CONTINUOUS PERITONEAL-DIALYSIS IN NEWBORNS

Objective: To report the complications and out come of 10 newborns aff ected by acute renal failure (ARF), treated by continuous peritoneal d ialysis (CPD). Design: All newborns admitted for tertiary treatment to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the University of Padova, who und erwent CPD between February 1986 and December 1990, were analyzed retr ospectively. Patients: Ten newborns (mean weight 2077 g, range 540-493 0 g) received CPD, 6 of whom were preterm. All the survivors completed the study. Interventions: A number 9,5 French Tenckhoff catheter was used, and a closed circuit was created by means of a modified continuo us ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) technique. The mean duration of dialytic therapy was 7 days. Results: At the end of the dialytic pe riod, 7 of the 10 patients had normal serum potassium and sodium value s. CPD produced two different types of complications: leakage of the d ialytic fluid in very low weight newborns and one episode of peritonit is during a chronic dialysis treatment. Six died of severe respiratory failure (in no case, however, was this attributable to ARF or CPD pro cedure). All but one of the survivors regained normal renal function. The only exception necessitated a kidney transplant. Conclusion: We be lieve that this technique, although invasive, improves the outcome of both preterm and low birth weight newborns affected by ARF.