Data of the patients receiving open surgical Tenkchoff straight catheter insertion in our department from January 2005 to January 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. The 117 patients in whom PDC insertion was conducted with the guidance of guide wire were enrolled into group A

and the 121 cases receiving PDC insertion without guide wire were enrolled into group B. The incidences of post-operative complications (catheter obstruction

catheter displacement

bloody dialysate

and dialysate leakage)

catheter survival

and patient survival rates were compared between the 2 groups. The baseline characteristics (gender

age

body mass index

prothrombin time

activated partial thromboplastin time

platelet count

serum creatinine

follow-up time

primary diseases

and outcomes) of the 2 groups were comparable (all P>0.05). In post-operative complications

only the incidence of early bloody dialysate showed significant difference

being 16.2% in group A and 7.4% in group B (P=0.04). Catheter and patient survival rates were not significantly different between the two groups. Overweight patients showed a higher incidence of catheter obstruction compared with normal weight patients [16.0% (4/25) vs.3.3% (7/213)

P=0.02]

but no differences in post-operative complications were found among overweight patients between the 2 groups.