Kidney Patient Guide

Hello, I have been lurking on this forum for a quite a while and have gained so much info from all your posts. I knew I would be posting here soon with questions but was hoping it was still a few weeks away. My dad had his PD catheter inserted on Friday afternoon and they repaired a hernia at the same time under GA. He was discharged on Saturday afternoon and sent home with paracetamol. He has been in quite a bit of pain (he's never great with a GA either) and by tea time yesterday he was in absolute agony and also felt like he couldn't breathe, we rang our renal unit (we live about an hour away) and they told us to ring an ambulance which we did and he was taken into our local A&E. They administered some morphine which eased the pain considerably and took an XRay. They don't believe he has an infection nor a blockage/constipation. We saw a surgical doctor whose opinion was that it was very early days and having had both a hernia and PD tube fitted, he should have been given stronger painkillers than paracetamol. He managed to sleep last night when he returned home from hospital (about 1am-6am) but the pain started coming back this morning so he has taken the stronger painkillers. This agonising pain after a PD insertion doesn't appear to be the norm - from the posts I have read most seem to cope with paracetamol and are up and about fairly quickly. He has an appointment in the renal unit on Thursday but I would be so grateful if anyone could offer any advice/explanation and if they have suffered a similar experience. Thank you, Jules.

Hi Jules.

I had the same operations in November. I did have some painful episodes that for me felt like severe constipation. When I started dialysis, I had the same pains that could be turned off and on by stopping and starting draining. I think that various nerves travel through the peritoneum. When the catheter comes into contact with them, you can get pain that appears to come from where the nerve ends. I am told this should ease with time, but I still have some bad drains where I stand there gripping whatever is to hand. I've only ever taken paracetamol.

Hello Pinkdiamonds14,

Consult doctor about the pain.

Anti-inflammatory pain killers must not to be used with sick kidneys, in effect that means paracetamol only, there are others that could be used but best to let a doctor select one.

Best wishes.

Thank you for your replies. The pain has virtually gone and he is now only having the occasional paracetamol. However not the best experience to start his dialysis journey