[Empirical therapy of peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis patients--it is reasonable to use a new therapeutic schedule?].

The Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on Peritonitis Management recommended in the year 2000 a new protocol of empirical peritonitis therapy in patients on peritoneal dialysis with preserved residual renal function (RRF). This protocol comprises 1st and 3rd generation cephalosporins. According to these recommendations the old protocol of therapy, comprising 1st generation cephalosporin and aminoglycoside may be used only in patients with diuresis lower than 100 ml/day. The aim of the study was a retrospective assessment of the efficacy and cost of peritonitis therapy using "old" and "new" protocols. The analysed episodes of peritonitis were divided into two groups. Group 1 included 22 episodes of peritonitis in 13 patients treated with the old protocol, in whom RRF was lower than 100 ml/day. Group 2 included 6 episodes of peritonitis in 4 patients with preserved RRF treated with the new protocol. The efficacy of the treatment according to the old protocol was 64% and according to the new protocol--33%. The average cost of 14-day therapy with the old and new schedule was 67.1 and 247.2 Euro, respectively. In our studied population a considerably lower efficacy and higher cost were revealed of the new empirical schedule of peritonitis treatment in comparison to the old schedule. The results of the study indicate the need of further estimation of the usefulness of the new peritonitis empirical treatment protocol.