Repair of Damaged Connectors of Tunneled Cuffed Catheters with a Two-Piece Adaptor for Peritoneal Dialysis

Abstract

Purpose Although catheter use exposes the patient to several complications, tunneled cuffed catheters are widely applied for temporary or long-term vascular access. The aim of the study was to establish the rate of tunneled dialysis catheter damage and report our experience with breakage repair. Methods All 363 cuffed tunneled hemodialysis catheters inserted into 309 patients from May 2000 to December 2008 were followed up. When connector damage was encountered, repair with a two-piece adaptor for peritoneal dialysis was attempted. Results Mechanical breakage occurred in 33 (9.1%) of catheters with an incidence of 0.36/1000 catheter-days. The most frequent was connector damage, found in 25 cases (67.6%). Catheter repair using a peritoneal dialysis Luer adaptor was performed with good early and long-term outcome. Conclusions Tunneled catheter breakage is a relatively rare complication. Catheter repair using the adaptor for peritoneal dialysis is easy to perform, safe, and cost-effective.