Constipation in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients

Abstract

Constipation in peritoneal dialysis (PD) is an infrequent but potentially serious condition affecting the mechanical properties of dialysis techniques and predisposing to bacterial intestinal translocation and eventual enteric peritonitis. Despite the importance of the problem, published literature is scarce, consisting mostly of uncontrolled single-center trials. This inconsistency may be attributed to the large number of clinical, radiological, and endoscopic tools that have been used in the studies with a lack of generally accepted core primary outcomes. The current narrative review discusses the pathophysiological associations between chronic kidney disease, PD, and constipation with related complication.