Background: Icodextrin induces ultrafiltration (UF) during long-dwell exchanges by creating a difference in oncotic pressure between the peritoneal cavity and plasma; however, the mechanisms governing intra-patient and inter-patient variability in UF when icodextrin is used remain largely unexplained. In the present study, we show theoretically that differences in peritoneal residual volume (VR) have a more profound effect on UF with icodextrin use than with glucose use. This phenomenon is attributed to a differential effect of VR on oncotic, rather than osmotic, pressure between the peritoneal cavity and plasma. ♢
Methods: The three-pore model was used to calculate the effect on UF of VR between 150 mL and 1200 mL when 7.5% icodextrin (ICO) or 3.86% glucose solution is used at the end of a 12-hour dwell in the four patient transport groups (that is, fast to slow). Oncotic (with ICO) and osmotic (with glucose) pressure differences averaged over the entire dwell were also calculated. ♢
Results: As expected, at a nominal VR of 300 mL, UF with glucose differed substantially between the four patient transport groups (2 - 804 mL), whereas UF with ICO did not (556 - 573 mL). When VR was increased to 1200 mL from 150 mL, the concentrations of the oncotic and osmotic agents at the start of the dwell with an infusion volume of 2 L decreased to 4.9% from 7.0% with ICO and to 2.5% from 3.6% with glucose. The decrease in UF on average was greater with ICO [to 252 mL from 624 mL: that is, a reduction of 372 mL (60%)] than with glucose [to 292 mL from 398 mL: that is, a reduction of 106 mL (27%)]. Those trends agreed with the calculated reductions in the oncotic pressure difference with ICO [reduction of 12 mmHg (49%)] and the osmotic pressure difference with glucose [reduction of 19 mmHg (33%)]. ♢
Conclusions: When ICO is used, VR modifies the oncotic pressure difference between the peritoneal cavity and plasma to substantially alter UF. This modification suggests that potential causes of increased VR should be considered when UF with ICO is considerably less than expected. Prospective clinical studies evaluating the relationship between VR and UF with ICO are warranted to validate the theoretical predictions in this report.
Keywords: Icodextrin; oncotic pressure; residual volume; ultrafiltration.