Peritoneal dialysis as salvage renal replacement therapy after complete failure of hemodialysis access in an elderly patient with multiple comorbidities.

Although peritoneal dialysis (PD) has been advocated as a suitable substitution therapy in patients with failure of hemodialysis (HD) blood access, documentation of the performance of PD in such patients is limited. Here, we present an elderly patient with total failure of HD blood access who has had a remarkably successful course on PD. A 78-year-old man with several comorbidities started continuous ambulatory PD after a 3.5-year course of HD complicated by repeated vascular access infections and clotting episodes. These access complications resulted in 8 hospitalizations and led to inability to ambulate following a right femoral shaft fracture sustained in a fall secondary to confusion during an episode of access sepsis, and to superior vena cava (SVC) syndrome following SVC thrombosis after internal jugular catheter insertion. Over approximately 3 years, PD has been very successful in this patient, with 2 early routine episodes of peritonitis and 1 early episode of exit-site infection, control of hematologic and biochemical values, no hospitalizations in the 2.5 years before the time of writing, and good quality of life. A dedicated spouse performing the PD tasks has been a major factor in the success of PD in this patient. Peritoneal dialysis can be successful as a renal replacement procedure in incapacitated elderly patients with failure of HD blood access. In these cases, the success of PD is enhanced by dedicated family members taking on PD tasks that the patient cannot perform.