Future Expectations of Diagnostic Approaches for Treating Endogenous Peritonitis in Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis

Masashi Mizuno, Yasuhiro Suzuki, Yasuhiko Ito
2014 Internal medicine (Tokyo. 1992)  
The Authors Reply We appreciate Dr. Windpessl M. and colleagues for their supportive comments and additional references regarding our case report (1). The phrase "the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence," proposed by the authors is a good suggestion for physicians investigating the cause of peritonitis in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD). According to a recent report from the UK, "peritonitis is still the Achilles' heel of peritoneal dialysis" (2). The routes of infection for
more » ... peritonitis in PD patients primarily involve contamination during PD bag exchange, tunnel infection caused by exit-site infection and endogenous causes of peritonitis. Unfortunately, it is sometimes not possible to obtain specific findings of endogenous peritonitis, aside from the results of bacterial cultures. If bacterial cultures are negative, the appropriate opportunity for surgical intervention may be lost. In such cases, it is important for physicians to suspect
doi:10.2169/internalmedicine.53.1827 pmid:24633044 fatcat:bqjbck5vqfci7dvjivnhbbphfm