Background: Peritonitis caused by nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) is an important complication in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.
Methods: Cases of PD complicated by NTM peritonitis reported in the English language literature were identified in the PubMed database. The characteristics of these cases were reviewed.
Results: In 41 articles, we identified 57 cases of PD-associated NTM peritonitis in patients ranging from 5 to 82 years. The prevalent clinical findings of these cases were fever, abdominal pain, cloudy fluid and an elevated leukocyte count in peritoneal fluid. These findings were non-specific and could not be differentiated from symptoms caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis or other bacteria. The majority of these cases received empirical antibacterial therapy before diagnosis of NTM peritonitis. Isolates in more than half of the peritonitis cases were the rapidly growing Mycobacterium, Mycobacterium fortuitum (38.6%) and Mycobacterium chelonae (14.0%). In most cases, PD catheters were removed and experience with non-removal was limited.
Conclusion: Diagnosis of NTM infection should be considered in PD patients with peritonitis that are culture negative or refractory to empirical antibiotic therapy.