Point-of-care Test for Diagnosis of Peritonitis in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients (Periplex)

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a home-based dialysis therapy and peritonitis is a serious complication in PD. A reliable point-of-care test to detect peritonitis is important for patients to self-detect peritonitis at home as delayed diagnosis and treatment of peritonitis will translate to poor outcomes in PD patients. The study aims to examine the effectiveness of Periplex®, point-of-care test, in the diagnosis of peritonitis in PD patients.

A reliable point-of-care test to detect peritonitis is indeed needed for early diagnosis of peritonitis at home and seeking medical help early. We hypothesize that Periplex® is not inferior to routine leukocyte testing of PD Fluid effluent in the diagnosis of peritonitis. The test strip is designed to detect the inflammatory markers (IL6 and MMP-8) which are usually released during peritonitis. The strip is intended to be used in the PD patients who suspected to have symptoms of peritonitis. The target population is all adult PD patients who are followed up in Singapore General Hospital and have signs and symptoms suspected of peritonitis during the study period. The test is considered positive for peritonitis if one or both test lines appear in the window of the test strip. The test will be performed at 2-time points, one at the presentation of peritonitis and one at the completion of antibiotics for the current episode of peritonitis, to document resolution of peritonitis. The results of the tests will be compared with the leukocyte testing of PD effluent.

The PD effluent will be sent to the laboratory for leucocyte testing for patients presented with suspected PD peritonitis.

Periplex test strip will be used to examine the PD effluent for peritonitis, in addition to the routine leucocyte testing of PD effluent

Number of participants with gram-positive organisms, gram-negative organisms, no bacterial growth or other organisms peritonitis having test result positive for peritonitis

Inclusion Criteria: Adult PD patients who are followed up in Singapore General Hospital and presented with signs and symptoms suspected of peritonitis including fever, abdominal pain or cloudy effluent will be recruited for the study. Exclusion Criteria: 1. PD patients who are not followed up in SGH 2. Patients with mentally challenging conditions and who are unable to provide a valid consent 3. Non-PD patients 4. PD patients who do not have signs or symptoms suspected of peritonitis