Comparing surgeon- and nephrologist-inserted Tenckhoff catheters: experience from a metropolitan centre in Sydney

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is an effective home-based form of dialysis. Although several factors limit its use, the timely and successful insertion of a PD catheter is essential for increased uptake. This retrospective observational study was performed at a tertiary teaching hospital in Sydney with the aim of comparing outcomes of PD catheter insertion using a percutaneous, modified Seldinger technique utilised by a trained nephrologist to the traditional surgical insertion using a mini-laparotomy. Over an 8-year period, 194 PD catheters were inserted. Aside from lower body mass indexes in the nephrologist-led interventions (P = 0.02), patient demographics were well matched. Time-to-insertion was significantly shorter with the percutaneous technique (P