Peritoneal dialysis as a life-saving procedure in an extremely low birth weight infant: case report and review of the literature

摘要

Case. A female infant was born at 24 and 4/7 weeks with a birth weight of 460 grams after an emergency cesarian section from a preeclamptic pregnacy. She developed AKI secondary to sepsis. A neonatal, straight single-cuff Tenckhoff catheter was inserted and PD was started on day 12. PD was discontinued after 6 days, on day 18 with adequate urine output and normalization of kidney function tests. However, the patient died on day 152 secondary to a nosocomial infection. Conclusion. To the best of our knowlegde, our case is the smallest infant in whom PD was performed succesfully with a PD catheter. PD is a relatively safe, effective and a feasible therapy in the neonatal population even in the smallest infants. PD may be a live-saving procedure in extremely low birth weight infants with severe AKI.