Type of peritoneal dialysis catheter and outcomes.

In peritoneal dialysis (PD), a well-functioning catheter is of great importance, because a dysfunctional catheter may be associated with incidence of peritonitis, efficiency of dialysis, and to the overall quality of treatment, representing one of the main barriers to optimal use of PD. When considering the relationship between PD catheter type and outcomes, we should keep in mind the different types of available PD catheters, those that are most commonly used in clinical practice, and the available head-to-head comparisons in the literature. The main differences in PD catheter design include the number of cuffs, the shape of subcutaneous tract (straight vs. swan neck), and the shape of intraperitoneal tract (straight vs. coiled). The availability of the best catheter design and materials, along with a skillful management of PD access, may have the greatest impact on long-term patient outcome on PD. It is now established that the use of straight catheters may improve outcomes and technique survival, but further advances in PD catheter technology can potentially improve technique survival. The self-locating PD catheter is a well established device that has not been fully studied and it may represent, based on the available observational evidence and on the clinical experience, an already existing technological advance deserving further studies.