Outcomes of PD for AKI treatment during COVID-19 in New York City: A multicenter study

BACKGROUND: The high incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring dialysis associated with COVID-19 led to the use of peritoneal dialysis (PD) for the treatment of AKI. This study aims to compare in-hospital all-cause mortality and kidney recovery between patients with AKI who received acute PD versus extracorporeal dialysis (intermittent haemodialysis and continuous kidney replacement therapy). METHODS: In a retrospective observational study of 259 patients with AKI requiring dialysis during the COVID-19 surge during Spring 2020 in New York City, we compared 30-day all-cause mortality and kidney recovery between 93 patients who received acute PD at any time point and 166 patients who only received extracorporeal dialysis. Kaplan-Meier curves, log-rank test and Cox regression were used to compare survival and logistic regression was used to compare kidney recovery. RESULTS: = 0.48). CONCLUSIONS: The use of PD for the treatment of AKI was not associated with worse clinical outcomes when compared to extracorporeal dialysis during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. Given the inherent selection biases and residual confounding in our observational study, research with a larger cohort of patients in a more controlled setting is needed to confirm our findings.