Preoperative vancomycin prophylaxis for newly placed peritoneal dialysis catheters prevents postoperative peritonitis.

The role of vancomycin and other antibiotics in treatment of acute peritonitis in peritoneal dialysis patients is well established. However, the role of preoperative vancomycin or cephalosporins in preventing early infection in newly placed peritoneal dialysis catheters remains controversial. We performed a prospective randomized study to examine the role of vancomycin or cefazolin prophylaxis in decreasing the incidence of postoperative peritonitis. Over 8-year period, 265 patients undergoing 305 permanent peritoneal catheter placement procedures were randomized into three groups. Group I (103 procedures) received a single intravenous (i.v.) dose of 1000 mg vancomycin 12 hours before the peritoneal catheter placement procedure. Group II (102 procedures) received a single i.v. dose of 1000 mg of Ancef (cefazolin) 3 hours before the procedure. Group III (100 procedures) received no antibiotics preoperatively for a least one week before the procedure. Patients were monitored for peritonitis during the following 14 days. Peritonitis developed in 1 patient (1%) in Group I (vancomycin group) compared to 12 patients (12%) in Group III (control group), p = 0.002, and in 9 patients (9%) in Group II (cefazolin group) compared to Group III, p = 0.68. We conclude that the use of preoperative single-dose i.v. vancomycin prophylaxis for permanent peritoneal dialysis catheter placement reduces the risk of postoperative peritonitis. Cefazolin did not achieve a statistically significant difference from the control group and may not provide adequate prophylaxis.