Questions About PD
1 answer
We thank you for your question. Last year (April, 2021) we conducted an informal survey of ISPD Nursing Committee members from different countries (Brazil, Canada, New Zealand/Australia, the UK and the USA) to answer a similar question. For most of these countries, it is not common practice to cleanse the exterior portion of the transfer set with an antiseptic solution prior to connection or disconnection for a CAPD exchange. We do teach our patients on PD to always use hand-hygiene before the procedure and then use aseptic non-touch technique when performing a CAPD exchange (1,2). One member commented that a local practice in the United States (from multiple years ago, before the unit started to have their patients on PD use Alcavis), was to have a patient on PD take one wet paper towel with soap to clean the PD catheter/transfer set, then another wet paper towel to rinse off the soap from the PD catheter/transfer set, followed by drying with another paper towel. As far as we know, there is no research on this topic.
- British Columbia Renal Agency (May 2020). PD Procedures: Performing a Twin Bag Exchange. Available at: http://www.bcrenal.ca/resource-gallery/Documents/RR_PD-Performing_a_Twin_Bag_Exchange.pdf
- Nova Scotia Health Authority (March 2017). Patient and Family Guide: How to do a Twin Bag™ Exchange. Available at: http://www.nshealth.ca/sites/nshealth.ca/files/patientinformation/0633.pdf