Non-infectious complications of peritoneal dialysis and peritoneal scintigraphy

Abstract

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is an alternative to hemodialysis that is indicated in patients with chronic end-stage disease. It has many advantages, but also complications such as dialysate leaks around the catheter insertion site, in the abdominal wall or in the pleural cavity, inguinoscrotal hernia and even intra-abdominal fluid collection.
 Peritoneal scintigraphy is a simple, non-invasive, low-irradiation examination, without the risk of allergy, that allows both diagnosing and locating these complications because it allows acquiring images at the time of infusion, as well as remotely and after drainage of the dialysate. Tomoscintigraphy coupled with scanner SPECT / CT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography / Computed Tomography) can also help narrow the diagnosis.
 The objective of this article is to clarify the value of peritoneal scintigraphy in the diagnosis of non-infectious complications of peritoneal dialysis, the conditions for performing the examination and the potential indications, as illustrated by a few cases.