Abstract
The rate constants of transperitoneal movement of urea in the peritoneal cavity were determined using14C-urea on six adult patients. It is considered that one half of the time consumed by the inflow and outflow of the solution is indifferent to intermittent peritoneal dialysis, and this length of time is defined as ineffective time. Peritoneal urea clearance can be expressed as a function of the dialysate flow rate, the ineffective ective time and the rate constant determined by this experiment. Optimal flow rate for various values of ineffective time can be estimated. To increase the efficiency of peritoneal dialysis, it it essentially important to shorten the ineffective time and also it is desirable to increase the dialysate flow rate to an optimal point which is dependent on the ineffective time in individual cases. When an intermittent peritoneal dialysis was performed using a litre of a solution per cycle, 28.4 minutes were required on an average for the inflow and outflow of the solution in the series of peritoneal dialyses. In order to obtain the maximum efficacy when one litre solution is used for one cycle, it is desirable that one cycle, from the beginning of the inflow to the end of the outflow, is completed in about 40 minutes.
