Purpose: It is advocated to delay the start of peritoneal dialysis (PD) at least 10-14 days after insertion of peritoneal catheter. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with catheter-related complications (CRC) in patients starting PD early (1-13 days) (ES) and late (14 days or more) (LS) after catheter implantation.
Material/methods: Single center, retrospective analysis of CRC occurring within 14 days of follow up after peritoneal dialysis initiation in ES and LS group of patients.
Results: A total of 97 patients were analyzed. Seventy percent of them were ES. There were significantly more CRC in ES vs. LS (31% vs. 3%, p=0.01). Significantly more mechanical CRC occurred in ES than in LS (21% vs. 0%, p=0.01). Occurrence of infectious CRC did not differ between the groups. In multivariate analysis the only predictor of CRC development was the time elapsed between catheter insertion and beginning of PD (Odds Ratio [OR] 0.80 95% Confidence Interval [95% CI] 0.70-0.91; p=0.001).
Conclusions: Each day of delay of PD initiation following peritoneal catheter insertion decreases the odds for development of mechanical CRC.