Nephrol Dial Transplant (1995) 10: 2325-2327
© 1995 European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association
brief-report
Cuff-shaving procedure. A rescue treatment for exit-site infection unresponsive to medical therapy
Division of Nephrology and Dialysis Ospedale Maggiore, IRCCS, Milan, Italy
Correspondence and offprint requests to: Correspondence and offprint requests to:Antonio Scalamogna. Divisione di Nefrologia e Dialisi, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Commenda, 15, 20122 Milano. Italy
We performed 41 cuff-shaving procedures in 38 patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) with exit-site infection unresponsive to medical treatment. Cuff shaving was performed on three patients with two catheters each. This procedure was effective in eliminating 50% of S. aureus exit-site infection and all S. epidermidis exit-site infection, but was ineffective in Gram-negative exit-site infection. After cuff-shaving procedure, 20 catheters (49%) were removed; 11 for persistent tunnel infection and nine because of development of secondary peritonitis. The probability of catheter survival at 1 year was 50% and remained stable thereafter. Cuff-shaving procedure may be a valuable mode of therapy for treating patients with S. aureus and/or S. epidermidis exit-site infection unresponsive to medical treatment.
Keywords: CAPD; cuff shaving; exit-site infection