Combination therapy with peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis

In summary, the present study explored the potential benefits of combining HD and PD at a stage when PD-only therapy did not result in acceptable outcome. Thus, taken together, our and the study by McIntyre illustrate two different options of combining the two modalities, either early during the course of dialysis or when PD-only therapy is not sufficient. It appears that, based on these preliminary data, both options are feasible but that they provide different types of benefit. It is suggested that future research in this area should not only focus on confirming the results of these two reports, but should also evaluate the potential benefit of combination therapy in a third category, that is, in patients that do not have satisfactory outcome on HD-only therapy, as well as the impact of using novel PD solutions in "complementary dialysis." Future potential indications for this new combined modality are summarized in Table 4.