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Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) is used to treat end-stage renal failure in an increasing number of patients. CAPD has an advantage over hemodialysis in that it allows patients greater freedom to perform daily activities; it also provides other clinical benefits. However, the long-term effectiveness of CAPD is limited by complications, which have various causes. Complications with an infectious cause include bacterial peritonitis, tuberculous peritonitis, and infections of the catheter exit site and tunnel. Noninfectious complications include catheter dysfunction, dialysate leakage, hernias, and sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis. Many imaging modalities-radiography, ultrasonography, peritoneal scintigraphy, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-are useful for characterizing these complications. CT peritoneography and MR peritoneography are techniques specifically suited to this purpose. Imaging plays a critical role in ensuring that complications are detected early and managed appropriately.

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BackgroundEndovenous laser ablation is well recognized as the first-line treatment for superficial venous reflux with varicose veins in adults. It is not widely reported and is not an established practice in pediatric patients.ObjectiveTo illustrate a variety of pediatric venous conditions in which endovenous laser ablation can be utilized and to demonstrate its feasibility and safety in children.Materials and methodsWe conducted a retrospective review of endovenous laser ablation procedures performed between January 2007 and July 2014 at two large pediatric institutions.ResultsWe included 35 patients (17 males) who underwent endovenous laser ablation to 43 veins. Median age at first treatment was 14 years (range: 3–18 years). Median weight was 56 kg (range: 19–97 kg). Underlying diagnoses were common venous malformation (15), Klippel–Trenaunay syndrome (8), superficial venous reflux with varicose veins (5), verrucous hemangioma-related phlebectasia (4), venous varix (2) and arteriovenous fistula (1). The most common aim of treatment was to facilitate sclerotherapy. Thirty-four patients had treatment in the lower limbs and one patient in an upper limb. Ten of the veins treated with endovenous laser ablation had an additional procedure performed to close the vein. Complications attributable to endovenous laser ablation occurred in two patients (6%). One patient experienced post-procedural pain and one patient developed a temporary sensory nerve injury. Median clinical follow-up was 13 months (range: 28 days–5.7 years). The aim of the treatment was achieved in 29 of the 35 (83%) patients.ConclusionEndovenous laser ablation is technically feasible and safe in children. It can be used in the management of a range of pediatric venous diseases with good outcomes.

Although ablative techniques are feasible and promising treatments for certain pediatric tumors, large multicenter prospective trials will be needed to establish efficacy.

Nerve injury is an unusual but not rare complication of STS sclerotherapy. A degree of recovery, which may be complete, can be expected in most patients.

Background There are three principle forms of vascular access available for the treatment of children with end stage kidney disease (ESKD) by haemodialysis: tunnelled catheters placed in a central vein (central venous lines, CVLs), arteriovenous fistulas (AVF), and arteriovenous grafts (AVG) using prosthetic or biological material. Compared with the adult literature, there are few studies in children to provide evidence based guidelines for optimal vascular access type or its management and outcomes in children with ESKD. Methods The European Society for Paediatric Nephrology Dialysis Working Group (ESPN Dialysis WG) have developed recommendations for the choice of access type, pre-operative evaluation, monitoring, and prevention and management of complications of different access types in children with ESKD. Results For adults with ESKD on haemodialysis, the principle of “Fistula First” has been key to changing the attitude to vascular access for haemodialysis. However, data from multiple observational studies and the International Paediatric Haemodialysis Network registry suggest that CVLs are associated with a significantly higher rate of infections and access dysfunction, and need for access replacement. Despite this, AVFs are used in only ∼25% of children on haemodialysis. It is important to provide the right access for the right patient at the right time in their life-course of renal replacement therapy, with an emphasis on venous preservation at all times. While AVFs may not be suitable in the very young or those with an anticipated short dialysis course before transplantation, many paediatric studies have shown that AVFs are superior to CVLs. Conclusions Here we present clinical practice recommendations for AVFs and CVLs in children with ESKD. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system has been used to develop and GRADE the recommendations. In the absence of high quality evidence, the opinion of experts from the ESPN Dialysis WG is provided, but is clearly GRADE-ed as such and must be carefully considered by the treating physician, and adapted to local expertise and individual patient needs as appropriate.

Acute gastrointestinal bleeding is a common medical emergency, which carries a significant mortality. CT Angiography is an important non-invasive diagnostic tool, which can be used to plan subsequent endovascular or surgical management. The cases presented demonstrate that a meticulous and systematic approach to image interpretation is necessary, in particular, to detect focal sites of contrast extravasation and small pseudoaneurysms.