A narrative review on arteriovenous fistula for hemodialysis

Abstract

Vascular access is the lifeline for hemodialysis patients. Autologous artero-venous fistula (AVF) is still the most popular vascular access for hemodialysis even if declining during the last decades. Compared to central venous catheters and vascular grafts, AVF is characterized by a lower risk of infection and lower number of hospitalizations, and by a better quality of life, higher dialysis efficiency, and more prolonged life expectancy for patients. Since the year 1966 when the two surgeons Cimino and Brescia had the idea of connecting the forearm vein and artery for chronic dialysis, several data have accumulated on surgical procedures, positioning of AVF (distal vs proximal), time for the first use, monitoring and surveilling.

All guidelines suggest that special care should be given by monitoring and surveilling AVF to avoid its failure or fatal closing. Attention should be paid to the patient’s vasculature before surgery, through the “maturation” phase and chronic use. Indeed, AVF requires constant and careful care. The crucial role is played by the patient itself in cooperation with devoted clinical staff participated by skilled nurses, nephrologists, surgeons, radiologists, and sonographers.

Literature on AVF is evaluated and guidelines suggestions reported as well as the data attained by the Accesso Vascolare per Emodialisi (AVE) project. This project aimed to evaluate the benefits of monitoring and surveilling, operated by a multidisciplinary team on dialysis adequacy, AVF longevity, and patient’s mortality.

Keywords: artero-venous fistula, dialysis, mortality, monitoring, surveilling

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.

Introduzione

La fistola artero-venosa interna (FAV) fu concepita dai medici Cimino e Brescia nel 1966, quale superamento dello shunt artero-venoso esterno di Quinton-Scribner [1, 2].

La FAV resta l’accesso vascolare migliore ed è considerata la “lifeline” per il paziente in dialisi cronica essendo superiore agli altri accessi vascolari, quali catetere venoso centrale e protesi, rispetto ai quali presenta maggiore longevità, minor rischio di infezioni e formazione di trombi, ed assicura maggiore sopravvivenza al paziente [37]. 

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Microbiological quality of hemodialysis water: what are the risk factors?

Abstract

Background A dialyzed patient weekly gets in touch with a large amount of water (on average 350 liters) through the dialysis bath. It is therefore essential that this solution would have a high quality and purity. The aim of our study was to monitor the microbiological quality of the hemodialysis water in order to identify possible factors that could affect it.

Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study from January 2015 to October 2017 collecting the dialysis water in AOU Careggi. Samples were aseptically collected by specialized technicians and then transported under ice at 4 ° C to the Laboratory of Biological Hazards of USL Toscana Centro for laboratory analyses.

Results 126 water samples were collected. Coliforms, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, enterococci were not detected. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was found in only one sample. Both for CFU at 37 ° C and at 22 ° C, the type of device represented the only statistically significant risk factor (OR 15.21 and OR 10.25 respectively): SDS devices had a significantly higher risk of being positive for CFU at 37 ° C and 22 ° C.

Conclusions As our study demonstrated, the system producing dialysis water must be constantly monitored, especially in cases of SDS devices which may be subjected more frequently to a higher contamination, due to their discontinuous use.

 

Keywords: surveillance, hemodialysis, infections

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italian.

INTRODUZIONE

L’emodialisi è uno dei trattamenti per pazienti con insufficienza renale acuta e cronica e, alla fine del 2010, quasi un milione di persone erano in trattamento dialitico, il 60% delle quali in 5 paesi: USA, Giappone, Germania, Brasile, Italia (1).

Un paziente in dialisi entra in contatto settimanalmente con un’ingente quantità d’acqua tramite il bagno di dialisi, in media 350 litri. È pertanto essenziale che questa soluzione abbia un’elevata qualità e purezza in termini di corretta composizione elettrolitica, bassa concentrazione o assenza di inquinanti chimici organici e inorganici, bassa concentrazione o assenza di batteri, lieviti, funghi ed endotossine. Va ricordato che il circuito idraulico delle macchine dialitiche può promuovere la crescita batterica e la formazione di biofilm. Questi ultimi possono andare incontro a colonizzazioni batteriche che possono essere rilasciate o produrre endotossine capaci di penetrare le membrane dialitiche (2, 3) .

 

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