Peritoneal Dialysis

Peritoneal dialysis is a form of dialysis that uses the peritoneum, the lining of a person's abdomen, as the membrane across which fluid and dissolved substances are exchanged with the blood, removing excess fluid, correcting electrolyte imbalances and clearing toxins in patients with kidney failure. Georg Ganter carried out early experiments with the technique in the 1920s, but clinical use did not take hold until 1946, when physicians at Beth Israel Hospital reported its first successful use to treat acute renal failure, and it did not become viable as a long-term therapy until the 1960s; a major advance came in 1968, when Henry Tenckhoff developed the catheter that bears his name, eliminating the need to replace the catheter at every treatment. Compared with hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis offers greater flexibility for patients, tends to better preserve remaining kidney function and produces fewer swings in blood pressure, and shows better outcomes in the first two years of treatment and in patients with significant cardiac complications, although hemodialysis remains more widely available worldwide, offered in 96 percent of countries against 75 percent for peritoneal dialysis.