Peritonitis rates may be calculated in 1 of 2 ways:

1. Months of peritoneal dialysis at risk (ie total number of months each patient has spent on dialysis), divided by number of episodes (ie total number of episodes experienced by all patients), and expressed as interval in months between episodes (eg 1 per 20 patient-months); or,
2. Number of infections in toto or by organism for a time period, divided by dialysis-years’ time at risk, and expressed as episodes per patient-year (e.g. 0.6 episodes per patient-year).

Relapses (ie episodes of peritonitis due to the same organism as a previous episode for which treatment was completed less than 4 weeks prior) should not be counted as 2 separate episodes, but as 1 episode.

Yes, measuring exit site infection rate is an important key performance indicator for Peritoneal Dialysis Units.