Objective: To review the outcome of renal transplantation in a group of patients treated with chronic peritoneal dialysis and to compare the results with those of a matched population on hemodialysis.
Design: Retrospective study.
Setting: Tertiary, institutional hospital, administering to a population of two million, with 100 patients on peritoneal dialysis. Six hundred and sixty renal transplantations were performed by the end of 1993.
Patients: Fifty-six patients on chronic peritoneal dialysis who received 58 cadaveric renal allografts were compared to 58 patients on hemodialysis who received a graft from the same donor (n = 39), or the transplant next to the one performed to the corresponding patient on peritoneal dialysis (n = 19).
Results: Patients on peritoneal dialysis showed a lower rate of delayed graft function (24.1 vs 50%, p < 0.05) and a similar incidence of acute rejection than patients on hemodialysis. Also, peritoneal dialysis patients received less supplementary immunosuppression, suffered a lower incidence of late infections (0.93 vs 0.58 episodes/patient), and had a similar incidence of dialysis-related complications (0.25 vs 0.20 episodes/patient).
Conclusions: Patients on peritoneal dialysis do well after renal transplantation. The incidence of some complications, particularly delayed graft function, is lower than in patients on hemodialysis, while the incidence of dialysis-associated complications is similar in both groups.