Abstract: Objective  To observe the clinical efficacy of peritoneal dialysis (PD) on liver failure and its effect on inflammatory cytokines.  Methods This is a retrospective and cohort study, including 56 patients with liver failure, of which 30 patients used PD (PD group) and 26 patients treated with abiotic artificial liver plasma exchange (PE group). The clinical efficacy, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), blood ammonia (AMMO), total bilirubin (TBIL), prothrombin time (INR), serum creatinine (Cr), plasma albumin (ALB), interleukin-6 (IL-6), procalcitonin (PCT), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) before and after the treatment, and the scores of the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) and Child-Turotte-Pugh (CTP) were compared between the two groups. The primary end point was all-cause mortality in 90 days. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was plotted.  Results  After the treatment, ALT, AMMO, TBIL, INR, Cr,     IL-6, PCT, TNF-α, and the scores of MELD and CTP improved significantly in both groups as compared with those before treatment (For PD group, Z/t=4.440, 6.084, 7.750, 5.227, 4.947, 11.649, 10.060, 14.596, 5.930 and 6.355 respectively; P<0.001. For PE group, Z/t=4.360, 4.191, 7.972, 3.245, 3.122, 8.404, 10.806, 12.596, 3.949 and 4.466, respectively; P<0.001, <0.001, <0.001, 0.003, 0.004, <0.001, <0.001, <0.001, <0.001 and     <0.001 respectively), and the improvements had no statistical significances between the two groups (F/c2=0.039, 0.488, 0.147, 0.000, 1.407, 0.002, 0.010, 0.027, 54.637 and 3.841 respectively; P=0.844, 0.488, 0.703, 0.991, 0.241, 0.960, 0.920, 0.870, 0.523 and 0.798 respectively). After the treatment, ALB was significantly higher in PE group than in PD group (F=8.061, P=0.005). The overall effectiveness rate after the treatment for 3 months had no statistical significance between the two groups (χ2=0.025,P=0.611), but the expenses were less in PD group than in PE group (Z=13.500,P=0.001).  Conclusion   PD and PE are equally effective in the treatment of liver failure, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Key words: Peritoneal dialysis; , Non biological artificial liver; , Liver failure