Comparison of Intraperitoneal Administration of Two Preparations of Vancomycin in Causing Chemical Peritonitis

Vancomycin has been considered to be very effective in the treatment of infections due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and s. epidermidis. Its intraperitoneal administration is a well-recognized form of treatment for peritonitis or exit-site infection with gram-positive organisms in CAPD patients. However, some anecdotal reports in the literature have suggested that intraperitoneal administration of vancomycin hydrochloride may be associated with chemical peritonitis in CAPD patients (1-5). The episodes of chemical peritonitis reported so far occurred exclusively with the use of vancomycin from Lederle Laboratories (2-5). A similar phenomenon has not been described with Vancocin CP, a brand ofvancomycin by Lilly. A prospective, randomized trial was therefore performed to compare the incidence of chemical peritonitis with the use of these two different preparations of vancomycin from different pharmaceutical companies, namely Vancocin CP from Lilly and Vancoled from Lederle.