Relavo: Reducing the Incidence of Peritonitis in Peritoneal Dialysis

End-stage renal disease (ESRD), also known as kidney failure, is a disease that affects more than 700,000 people in the United States alone and requires them to receive a form of renal-replacement therapy (RRT). One form of RRT is peritoneal dialysis (PD), which patients receive at home every night. While PD is associated with improved health outcomes and higher quality of life compared to hemodialysis (HD), the most common form of RRT, clinicians recommend the majority of patients to receive HD. This is due to the high associated risk of peritonitis, an infection of the peritoneal membrane commonly caused by touch contamination during the PD set up process. Peritonitis has an incidence of one episode per four patients per year, with 60% of episodes leading to hospitalization. These infections cost the US healthcare system over $105 million each year.

Relavo is combating these infections by developing the PeritoneX, a device that disinfects contaminated tube ends after all connections have been made. By minimizing the risk of peritonitis, we reduce the reliance on patients to comply with sterile procedure. The PeritoneX allows patients to receive higher quality care, and reduces peritonitis treatment expenditures for dialysis providers and insurance payers.