The aim of this study was to evaluate the effective peritoneal capillary blood flow (EPBF) during intermittent peritoneal dialysis in uremic patients through the calculation of the diffusive mass transfer coefficient (KBD) of carbon dioxide gas. Examinations were performed during dialysis with the use of dialysis solution No. 1 (Polfa, Poland) with pH 6.30 (n = 10) or pH 7.25 (n = 10). The KBD of carbon dioxide was calculated at 2.5 minutes' dwell time. EPBF was estimated at the beginning (exchanges 3-5), in the middle (exchanges 9-11), and at the end (exchanges 15-17) of dialysis. KBD values of carbon dioxide, obtained during the above exchanges, yield EPBF of, respectively, 2.56 +/- 0.31, 2.63 +/- 0.25, and 2.59 +/- 0.44 mL/min/kg body weight for the pH 6.30 solution, and 1.84 +/- 0.25, 2.38 +/- 0.27, and 2.21 +/- 0.29 mL/min/kg body weight for the pH 7.25 solution. Our results yield EPBF greater than previously estimated and confirm suggestions that EPBF in humans exceeds 100 mL/min.

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