BACKGROUND: Chronic renal failure is a disease of high prevalence and high morbidity, which impairs the patients' quality of life. Patients on hemodialysis need a vascular access for connection with the hemodialysis equipment. Arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) are the best option for this purpose. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the early patency of AVFs and to identify the causes of their failure. METHODS: All patients AVF underwent operations for dialysis from August, 2008 to January, 2009. The AVF patency was evaluated on the 1st, 10th and 30th postoperative days. Thirty-one operations for AVF were performed in our hospital in the period; 18 patients were males and the mean age was 63.03 years. RESULTS: Twenty-six AVF were distal, all radial-cephalic; four were proximal, out of which two were brachiocephalic and two were brachiobasilic; one AVF was a femoral-femoral loop PTFE graft. The patency rate in the first month was of 71%. The use of central venous catheters was a risk factor for AVF occlusion (p=0.01). AVF remains the most accepted and safe vascular access. Early performance of the AVF is very important to avoid the complications resulting from long-term use of central venous catheters. CONCLUSIONS: Data regarding early patency found in this study were similar to those found in literature, and the use of central venous catheters before performing AVF is an important risk factor for occlusion.
Arteriovenous fistula; renal dialysis; vascular patency
