[Peritoneal dialysis--an ideal initial dialysis mode].

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) has become an established dialysis modality besides hemodialysis (HD). Although PD is an equal form of dialysis compared to HD, patients numbers on PD remain low worldwide. There are several reasons for this fact. The medical staff in some centers is not used to PD, so there is not enough information about the different dialysis methods available for the patients and the staff doesn't get the training that would be necessary to get familiar with PD. There are some concerns about offering PD to certain groups of patients despite excellent results as to quality of dialysis, good preservation of residual renal function, low costs compared to HD and better quality of life than on HD. However, PD should be offered to all patients requiring dialysis with very few exeptions as an ideal initial dialysis method. This includes patients with diabetes, patients with kidney transplant failure, patients with congestive heart failure and older patients.