The pharmacokinetics of a single oral dose of amitriptyline were examined in five functionally anephric patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). The concentration of the parent drug and its major metabolite nortriptyline in plasma were measured by high performance liquid chromatography. Patients on CAPD did not have a significantly extended elimination half-life (t 1/2) as compared to literature controls. However, the variation in t 1/2 was extremely large in both the CAPD and normal renal function groups (range 15-34 h and 24-70 h, respectively). No statistically significant change was observed (p less than 0.05). Although a major route of elimination was removed and there was no change in t 1/2, the drug levels in these patients should be closely monitored because of the large variability in patient metabolism.