CAPD

by Deborah Duval

Renal dialysis can be performed by one of two methods. Any woman faced with the choice of dialysing by either ‘CAPD’ (Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis) or haemodialysis (blood cleansing machine) needs to know how each of these will affect her life. They will both affect it in entirely different ways. It is not an easy decision.

CAPD requires a permanent catheter to be implanted through the wall of the stomach into the peritoneum (a porous bag containing the guts, liver, stomach and spleen). Four times every day – without a break – a bag of warmed glucose fluid is gently drained through this catheter into the peritoneum and by a process of osmosis over the gap between ‘exchanges’ this solution, now sitting inside the peritoneum, draws the impurities present outside the peritoneum into the fluid. This 'dirty' fluid is then drained out, a new bag of warmed fluid drained in and the catheter then sealed off until the next ‘exchange’.

A woman needs to know that she will always have a hugely distended stomach and will have to come to terms with the permanence of a plastic catheter dangling from her body (not every woman does develop a distended stomach, but it is common - medical editor). It is not a pretty sight and I would venture to say not an ideal option for a woman in a new relationship. I chose this method because I was in a stable marriage where I believed this change in my appearance would not matter. I had not taken into consideration the huge impact it would have on my perception of myself and, in turn, the affect it would have on my personality.

It must be said that many women manage successfully with this method of dialysis, and for those who do not manage there is always the option of changing to haemodialysis.

I commenced CAPD in February 1993 and spent the next 18 months dealing with an overwhelming barrage of medical conditions. Not least of these was an extreme form of ‘renal itch’ (where ‘clots’ of phosphate, unable to be flushed away ‘naturally’ make their way to the surface of the skin and break out, in the most extreme form, into bleeding lumps) exacerbated by the nerve damage caused by my diabetes. Nerve damage to the stomach also leads to extreme gastric upset and I became anaemic. I was unable to work and the vital and energetic young woman of only a few years prior to this diagnosis had disappeared. My illness became bigger than my marriage. My husband went to great lengths to make me as comfortable as possible, but he clearly mourned the loss of the woman he had married. We were a team and we batted on.

This article by Deborah is an extract from a fuller version she wrote for the Perceptions series on this website. Click here to read it.

To find out more about CAPD, click here.

NKF Controlled Document No. 185, CAPD, written 14 October 2005. Last reviewed 12 January 2010.

The National Kidney Federation cannot accept responsibility for information provided. The above is for guidance only. Patients are advised to seek further information from their own doctor.

The National Kidney Federation is registered in England and Wales as a Company limited by guarantee (Company No 5272349) and awarded charitable status (Charity Number 1106735). Give as You Earn contributions No. CAF GY511.

Registered Office:- The Point, Coach Road, Shireoaks, Worksop, Notts S81 8BW, Tel: (01909) 544999, Fax: (01909) 481723, Helpline: (0845) 601 02 09, E-mail:

This website is intended for UK residents only.
If you have any comments about this site, please EMAIL the webmaster