Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis in the United States: a three-year study.

This report of the NIH-supported National Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) Registry summarizes data on 7,404 patients treated with CAPD during the three-year period 1981 through 1983, or nearly one-half of patients treated in the USA who were treated with CAPD during this time. While age and diabetes mellitus impact on mortality, they appear to have a limited influence on transfer or infection rate. There were 1.7 episodes of peritonitis, 0.7 exit site/tunnel infections, and 0.3 catheter replacements reported per patient year of observation. Patients averaged 10.2 hospital days per year for CAPD complications and 22.3 hospital days per year for all causes. Comparisons of these data with similar data reported for other therapies are subject to variations in the distribution of population and disease characteristics, as well as the length of the observation period.