Clinical and dialysis outcomes of manual chronic peritoneal dialysis in low-body-weight children from a low-to-middle-income country

Background: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is the preferred modality of renal replacement therapy in children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). In developing countries, the challenges of initiating and sustaining chronic peritoneal dialysis (CPD) are many and are not well-described in the literature. Methods: This was a retrospective study of children aged 0–18 years on manual PD. The objective was to compare the clinical (growth) and dialysis outcomes (dialysis adequacy and peritonitis rates) in young children with low body weight (LBW; ≤15 kg) on CPD with children weighing >15 kg. Results: We found that at baseline, the dialysis prescription, sociodemographic parameters, and the prevalence of complications of ESRD were similar in both groups. On follow-up, however, growth was significantly more affected in LBW children than the rest of the cohort. The adequacy of dialysis and peritonitis rates were comparable between groups. Conclusions: Despite all the challenges, manual CPD is a feasible modality of dialysis in young children with LBW, and their outcomes are comparable to older children even in low-to-middle-income countries. Appropriate early management of associated complications and improving dialysis adequacy are necessary to improve the outcomes in these children.