ABSTRACT
Peritonitis in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) is a major cause of technical failure in peritoneal dialysis. The major pathogen is gram positive bacteria, and other main pathogens include gram negative bacteria, mixed microorganisms and fungi. The case of imipenem resistance Acinetobacter baumannii (IRAB) peritonitis are not common. We report a case of peritonitis by IRAB that was not responsive to the empirical antibiotics for CAPD-associated peritonitis. A 56-year-old male with a CAPD catheter inserted 2 weeks before visited our hospital for abdominal pain and turbid peritoneal fluid. He had been diagnosed as having an end stage renal disease (ESRD) about a month before. White blood cell and neutrophil count were elevated at the initial peritoneal fluid analysis, so we diagnosed him as having CAPD-associated peritonitis. Antibiotic therapy was initiated with intraperitoneal injections of ceftazidime/cefamezine which were soon changed to vancomycin/ceftazidime. However, vancomycin/ceftazidime regimen proved ineffective. On the fifth and sixth hospital day, IRAB was cultured from the CAPD catheter exit site swab and peritoneal fluid sampled on the first visiting day. Accordingly, we changed the antibiotics to colistin and removed the CAPD catheter, which led to clinical and laboratory improvement. In the cases of CAPD associated peritonitis in patients who have a history of ICU stay, exposure to the 3rd generation cephalosporin or imipenem, or who are elderly, we must suspect unusual pathogen or multi-drug resistance pathogen such as IRAB.