We thank you for your question. We would suggest having the patient on APD using a drain line, drain effluent from the drain line into a clear glass jar with sufficient volume to view the clarity of the effluent. However, if the patient does have symptoms of peritonitis, e.g. abdominal pain, then the patient should be instructed to follow these latest (2016) peritonitis guidelines:
“APD patients without a daytime exchange who present
with abdominal pain during the daytime may have no effluent
to drain. In this case, 1 L of dialysis solution should be infused,
dwelled for 1 to 2 hours, and then drained for inspection and
laboratory testing.” (1, page 487)
 
If your patient is on CCPD with suspected peritonitis with a last fill, then the patient should be instructed to drain the PD fluid that is “last fill” into a separate manual drain bag, inspect for cloudiness, then you should send the PD fluid for Gram stain, culture, and WBC count. We would add though, if the patient has had only 30 minutes of the last fill, then the patient would need to wait 1 – 2 hours before draining.
 

1. Li PK, Szeto CC, Piraino B, de Arteaga J, Fan S, Figueiredo AE, Fish DN, Goffin E, Kim YL, Salzer W, Struijk DG. ISPD peritonitis recommendations: 2016 update on prevention and treatment. Peritoneal Dialysis International. 2016 Sep;36(5):481-508. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3747/pdi.2016.00078