Tidal peritoneal dialysis: a pediatric experience.

The objective of this study was to assess whether eight hours of nightly tidal peritoneal dialysis (TPD) can provide uremia control equal that of CCPD/CAPD. A pilot study collected data from patients who volunteered to use TPD at home. Six children, ages 5 to 16, who required regular dialysis and lived within a 175 miles of the training center volunteered to use home TPD. These subjects were trained and followed at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Dialysate creatinine and urea nitrogen were measured during both CCPD and TPD. Clearances were measured for tidal dialysis using multiple dialysate flow rates. Dialysate urea clearance (KU - ml/min normalized to 70 kg.) increased with dialysate flow (QD - ml/kg/H) [KU = 9.566 + 0.251 X (QD)], and dialysate urea nitrogen losses equaled those of CCPD. Eight hours of tidal dialysis can provide dialysis efficiency equal that of CAPD/CCPD.