Paediatric acute peritoneal dialysis in southern Nigeria

Background: Acute peritoneal dialysis (APD) is the preferred treatment for isolated failure of the kidney. The authors reviewed children with acute renal failure (ARF) who had APD in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Results: 221 patients, 147 boys and 74 girls (M: F, 1.99:1), mean (SD) age 5.4 (4.9) years had ARF. Dialysis was indicated in 112 cases. The main clinical indication being convulsion/uraemia 30 (26.8%) Only 27 patients (21 boys and 6 girls) had APD, giving an access rate of 24.1%. The commonest dialysis related complication was catheter malfunction 12 (44.4%). The mortality rate among the dialysed patients was 22.2%. Lack of dialysis and intractable hypertension significantly increased mortality (chi(2) = 7.13, p < 0.01) and (chi(2) = 14.9, p < 0.001) respectively. Conclusion: APD is effective in reducing mortality of children with ARF. However, there were low dialysis access rate and few complications.