Outcomes of dialysis catheters placed by the Y-TEC peritoneoscopic technique: a single-center surgical experience

BACKGROUND In the last few years, peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheter placement techniques and outcomes have become important because of the growing population of PD patients. Although there are a growing number of catheters placed by the minimally invasive Y-TEC peritoneoscopic technique, there are still limited data on outcomes for these catheters, especially those placed by a surgeon. We aimed to conduct a retrospective study of our experience with PD catheters placed by the Y-TEC peritoneoscopic technique in our institution. METHODS We reviewed patients with peritoneoscopic PD catheter insertion over the last decade and described their complications and outcomes. In a secondary analysis, we compared the outcomes and complications of these catheters with those with open placement placed by the same surgeon. RESULTS We had complete data on 62 patients with peritoneoscopic catheter placement during the study period. The mean age was 55 years, 48.4% were females and the most common cause of end-stage renal disease was diabetes mellitus (33%). Surgical complications were seen in only 6/62 (9.6%) and peritonitis in 16/62 (26%) of peritoneoscopic catheters. Most catheters were used after 2 months of placement, while 12.3% were used within 2 months. When compared with 93 patients with open placement of catheters as a secondary analysis, peritoneoscopic catheters were found to have a higher 2-year survival. CONCLUSION Our large series of peritoneoscopically placed catheters by a surgeon demonstrate low surgical complications and peritonitis rates as well as superior 2-year survival compared with open placement of catheters.