Effects of prophylactic antibiotics before peritoneal dialysis catheter implantation on the clinical outcomes of peritoneal dialysis patients

Background: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) related infections, such as peritonitis, are still the main obstacle for the development of PD. Prophylactic antibiotic as one of the interventions to prevent early peritonitis was recommended to use before PD catheter insertion by International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) guidelines, In our hospital, however, since 2012, the prophylactic antibiotics for insertion of PD catheters were not allowed to use because of our hospital’s regulation. In order to analyze the outcomes of PD patients without using prophylactic antibiotics before the PD catheter insertion, we compared the PD patients with or without prophylactic antibiotics before PD catheter insertion. Methods: This retrospective study included 247 patients undergoing permanent PD catheter placement with conventional open surgical method consecutively between February 2008 and June 2013. Of these, 154 patients were given intravenous cefazolin, 1.0 g, 0.5–2 h before the procedure (antibiotic group) and 93 patients were not given prophylactic antibiotics (nonantibiotic group). All the patients were administered intermittent PD within 24 h after PD catheter insertion. The early complications and long-term outcomes were recorded respectively. Results: There was no significant difference in the incidence of peritonitis and exit-site/tunnel infection and mechanical complications between the two groups in the first 30 days after the PD catheter implantation. In addition, after 6 years of follow-up, no difference was seen between the two groups in patient survival, technique survival, and peritonitis-free survival. Conclusions: Our study does not show any beneficial effect of antibiotic prophylaxis in reducing the postoperative peritonitis.