This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
To the Editor.—We chose peritoneal dialysis as the treatment for this patient because we considered it safer, simpler, and more efficacious than exchange transfusion as a treatment for acute renal failure. The mortality rate associated with exchange transfusion is known, but much less information is available on the morbidity and mortality of peritoneal dialysis. A recent article (Lancet1: 64 [Jan 13] 1968) summarizes the complications when 443 intraperitoneal catheters were inserted. An abdominal viscus was perforated six times and intra-abdominal hemorrhage occurred twice. There were three deaths. The authors recommend, and we agree, that the technique of filling the abdomen via a large-bore needle prior to catheter insertion should reduce these complications.