Three years' experience of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

Patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) were studied for three years. 29 of them who had been on CAPD for six months or more were compared with patients on intermittent peritoneal dialysis (IPD) and on haemodialysis (HD). CAPD patients had significantly higher levels of HDL-cholesterol than HD patients. Urea, potassium, phosphate, and urate levels were significantly lower, and haemoglobin levels significantly higher, than in the IPD and HD groups. 43 CAPD patients studied had a peritonitis rate of 2.22 episodes per patient-year. CAPD offers an alternative form of dialysis to those unsuitable for HD, but until peritonitis rates can be reduced CAPD cannot rival HD as a long-term treatment.