Impact of Break-In Period on the Short-Term Outcomes of Patients Started on Peritoneal Dialysis

Objectives Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is one of the first-line modalities of renal replacement therapy in patients with end-stage renal disease. Guidelines recommended a break-in period of at least 2 weeks before full PD start. However, the optimal duration of the break-in period is still unclear. In the present study, we investigated the effect of various break-in periods on short-term outcomes in patients on PD.Methods All patients who underwent Tenckhoff catheter implantation and initiated PD in Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2010 were included. Patients were grouped according to the duration of their break-in period: 7 days or less (BI ≤7 ), 8 - 14 days (BI 8 14 ), and more than 14 days (BI >14 ). Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests were used to compare short-term outcomes in the various groups.Results Our study enrolled 657 patients (44.5% men), of whom 344, 137, and 176 patients were in the respective break-in groups. Compared with BI >14 patients, BI ≤7 patients had a lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (5.34 ± 1.86 mL/min/1.73 m 2 vs 6.55 ± 1.71 mL/min/1.73 m 2 , p < 0.001) and lower serum albumin (33.29 ± 5.36 g/L vs 36.64 ± 5.40 g/L, p < 0.001). The incidence of mechanical complications during the first 6 months was significantly higher in BI ≤7 patients than in BI >14 patients (8.4% vs 1.7%, p = 0.004). However, we observed no significant differences between the three groups with respect to the prevalence of catheter dysfunction requiring surgical intervention ( p > 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that BI ≤7 [relative risk: 4.322; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.278 to 14.608; p = 0.019] was an independent predictor of catheter dysfunction, but not of catheter dysfunction requiring surgical intervention ( p > 0.05). Catheter dysfunction [hazard ratio (HR): 20.087; 95% CI: 7.326 to 55.074; p < 0.001] and peritonitis (HR: 4.533; 95% CI: 1.748 to 11.751; p = 0.002) were risk factors for technique failure during the first 6 months, but BI ≤7 was not correlated with technique failure.Conclusions Patients starting PD with a break-in period of less than 1 week might experience a minor increased risk of mechanical complications, but no major effect on technique survival.