Poorer clinical outcomes of early-onset peritonitis in elderly peritoneal dialysis patients: A longitudinal and multicenter study

Introduction: Early-onset peritonitis (EOP) is a risk factor for mortality in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. This study investigates the clinical features and outcomes of EOP in elderly patients.

Methods: This multicenter retrospective study evaluated 433 elderly PD patients with end-stage renal disease. The cohort was divided into nonperitonitis group (n = 239), EOP group (≤12 months, n = 109) and late-onset peritonitis (LOP) group (>12 months, n = 85). Clinical data, treatment results, and outcomes were compared between the groups.

Results: Compared with LOP group, there were no significant intergroup differences in the rate of primary recovery, complete cure, relapse, catheter removal, or death from PDAP (p >0.05) in the most recent PDAP episode. However, Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients in the EOP group were likely to have multiple episodes of PD-associated peritonitis (PDAP), technique failure, all-cause death, and composite endpoint in the long-term prognostic outcomes (p <0.001).

Conclusions: EOP is significantly associated with poorer clinical outcomes in older PD patients.