A material stress test study on occurrence of leakage and material failure of peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheters

Peritonitis is a common complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD). Our root cause analysis allowed to attribute some cases to leakage of the PD catheter. Accordingly, a clinically based stress test study on potential material damage issues of PD catheters was performed, focusing on material damage caused by cleaning, de- and attachment procedures during dialysate changes and on the individual storage methods of PD catheters between dialysate changes. PD catheters were exposed to both chemical stress by repeating dialysate-flow and physical stress simulating de- and connecting, fixation, pressure, flexing, folding etc.—simulating standard clinical daily routine of 8–10 years PD catheter usage. Potentially by normal usage caused damages should be then detected by intraluminal pressure, light- and electron microscopy. The multi-step visual control showed no obvious damages on PD catheters nor any leakage or barrier indulgence. Our tests simulating daily routine usage of PD catheters for several years could not detect any material defects under chemical or physical stress. Hence, we presume that most PD catheter damages, as identified cause for peritonitis in some of our patients, may be due to accidental, unnoticed external damage (e.g. through scissors, while changing dressings) or neglecting PD catheter handling specifications.