[Pleuroperitoneal communication due to diaphragmatic injury as a complication of chest wall resection in a peritoneal dialysis patient; report of a case].

A 78-year-old female undergoing peritoneal dialysis due to chronic renal failure was admitted to our hospital because of a tumor on her right chest wall. The diagnosis was recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in the thoracic wall, and a combined resection of the thoracic wall and diaphragm was performed. Peritoneal dialysis was resumed 7 days after surgery, but a right pleural effusion was observed after 6 days of dialysis. Surgery was performed because failure of sutures related to the excised diaphragm was suspected. A thoracotomy revealed a large defect, about 1 cm in size, caused by injury of the diaphragm by an edge of the resected rib at the another site of a previous resection of the diaphragm. This defect was closed with sutures and the diaphragm was reinforced with a polyglycolic acid felt and fibrin glue. Peritoneal dialysis was resumed 7 days after surgery and has continued to date without recurrence.