Continuous intestinal dialysis for uraemia by intermittent oral intake of non-absorbable solutions. An experimental study.

A new approach to intestinal dialysis was investigated in a normal person and in a patient with chronic uraemia and a renal creatinine clearance of 10 ml/min. Both subjects drank 1-1.5 l non-absorbable solutions of polyethylene glycol or mannitol every fourth hour. The solutions stayed in the intestines for about four hours in the normal person and for 1.5 to 3 hours in the patient. The patient's intestinal clearances were 6-10.4 ml/min for creatinine, 4 ml/min for uric acid and 10.7-15.4 ml/min for phosphate, which compares favourably to those from 12 hours weekly haemodialysis. Continuous intestinal dialysis was well tolerated and the results indicate that this might be a useful way of treating uraemia if conventional methods are unavailable.