PD Tube

This is the forum for the Kidney Patient Guide. We welcome feedback about the site and any information that may be of use or interest to other visitors.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This forum is not for queries that would otherwise be addressed to a doctor. If you have a question about your condition or treatment please consult your renal unit or doctor. We do not have any editorial or medical resources to answer individual queries.

Moderator: administrator

Post Reply
anne
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2004 1:11 pm
Location: Michigan

PD Tube

Post by anne »

Hi everyone! Randy will be getting his peritoneal tube in tomorrow. What should he expect as far as recovery? Also do they usually keep you over night or send you home the same day? Any advice, suggestions or comments will be appreciated. Thanks, anne
Hal
Posts: 617
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 9:56 am
Location: Liverpool, UK

Good luck

Post by Hal »

Hi Anne,

Good luck to Randy for tomorrow.

It all depends on hospital policy - is he having the operation under local or general anaesthetic ? Local, I guess he's likely to be home the same or next day, general could be a few days.

It also depends if they are going to put him on PD straight away or leave it for a couple of weeks.

Advice I would give would be to try and avoid using the heavy pain killers like morphine / cocodemol too much as they mean its hard for the bowels to get going again. As a result of having loads of these (I had a hernia fixed also so that probably accounts for the pain), I ended up with lots of colic pain as well which delayed my recovery.

The operation should not cause much pain though and the recovery is generally quick. I'd also recommend keeping a dressing on the wound until it heals up a bit, but now I go without one.

Hal
Anne in Va
Posts: 246
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2004 11:28 am
Location: Virginia

Post by Anne in Va »

Hi Anne,

I lived in MI for six years at SANG base. Loved it except for the winters! The "Michiganders" are among the friendliest people I have had the pleasure of knowing.

I had a general when I had my catheter placed. My surgeon gives the choice of going home the same day or staying overnight. I think a lot depends on the individual. What else may be going on with them etc. I went home the same day but took plenty of time to recover in the "Same Day" recovery unit. The first two days or so were uncomfortable for me and I did use pain meds the first two days. Of course, pain is such an individual thing. I did have to take something to get things "moving" but other than that, recovery progressed pretty quickly.

Each unit seems to have their own way of proceeding after surgery in managing the healing process. I am sure you will be given instructions on discharge.

I enjoyed PD. For me, I was able to lead a pretty normal life and eat a regular diet with very little modification. I was able to travel easily and did not find PD to be too intrusive. I did CAPD and enjoyed my first morning exchange while I read the paper and drank my first cup of coffee - so civilized! I hope PD will be as kind to your husband as it was for me

You will both be in my thoughts and prayers during the coming days.

God Bless, Anne
anne
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2004 1:11 pm
Location: Michigan

PD Tube

Post by anne »

HI, hope I did this right. This site is still a little confusing too me. Anyway thanks for the responses. It does help to have someone to talk to about this stuff. Hopefully Randy will not have too many problems and will have a quick recovery. i do not know what kind of anaestetic (sp) he will have, but they did tell him not to eat or drink before hand. With any luck the PD tube will have time to heal before it will be used for dialysis. I will let you know on Thursday. Thanks for your well wishes! anne
Julie

PD Tube Insertion

Post by Julie »

Hi Anne,

Sorry I haven't been in touch for a while - been a bit busy around here.

I wanted to share with you David's experience of having his PD tube put in. He went into hospital on the Monday and was to have the operation under a general anaesthetic (his choice because he didn't want to be awake during the operation like you are when it is just done under a local anaesthetic). He was told he would stay in overnight and be home the following day.

The surgeon explained that inside the peritoneal cavity, there is an apron of fat which in some people is very small and insignifant, some people have a very large one and some don't have one at all - it is called the omentum. He said that if he finds an omentum whilst operating to put in the PD tube, he always removes it because it can interfere significantly with the placement of the tube inside and cause severe drainage problems, as the tube can tuck in behind it and not be in the main peritoneal cavity at all.

Well, it turned out that during the op, the surgeon found that David had a "huge omentum" in his words and so removed it. But this meant that David was down in theatre for about 2 and a half hours instead of only about 45 minutes.

Needless to say, I was pacing the floor as I'd expected him back much sooner. Then the surgeon appeared to tell me what had happened and put me at ease.

Now, because of the omentectomy, this meant that they would have to start using the PD tube straight away so as to flush away any blood which would be bleeding into the peritoneal cavity from the omentectomy site. This would help to make sure that the PD tube didn't get clotted up with blood to ensure its future use for PD. So, he had to be transferred from the nice little private hospital he was in to the main renal hospital about 20 minutes drive away - so they took him by ambulance and I followed on.

He ended up being in the renal unit for 4 days, having the PD tube flushes at regular intervals, until such time that the fluid which came out was not such bright red (as it was in the beginning) and had to have an iron infusion and EPO whilst he was there to try to stimulate his red blood cells because he had become so anaemic from losing so much blood.

Regarding pain, he was in a lot more pain than I understand normal PD tube insertions are, because of the omentectomy, and I would say that he was a good week to 10 getting over the worst of the pain.

The upside of all this though, is that he has never had any drainage problems at all from his tube, and I know the surgeon did a really good job of it.

Sorry if any of this has scared you in any way - that of course is not my intention, but I do feel you should be fully informed of all possible eventualities.

I hope Randy's operation goes smoothly and he is up and about in no time. Keep in touch.

Lots of love,
Julie
x
Post Reply