Arterio-Venous Fistula Audit. Successful Utilisation Rates of Arterio-Venous Fistulae for Haemodialysis at University Hospital Limerick

There are over 2 million end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who require renal replacement therapy worldwide, and this is estimated to rise to over 5 million by 2030 (Liyanage et al. 2015).

Haemodialysis, used by the majority of ESRD patients, requires vascular access, where blood can be taken out of the body (via cannulation) and pumped through an external dialysis machine, which filters the blood of waste and excess fluid before being returned.

Arterio-venous fistula creation is the preferred vascular access for haemodialysis, but has a large failure rate in the maturation period (Colley et al. 2022). Failure is usually attributed to insufficient dilation of the vessel and/or stenosis, which results in inadequate blood flow rates for the purpose of haemodialysis (Dixon, 2006).

The purpose of this audit is to examine over a three year period how many of the individuals who had an AVF created are utilising it successfully for the purpose of haemodialysis as planned.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients who had an AVF or AVG surgically created over the last three years at UHL who are undergoing haemodialysis treatments are suitable for inclusion.
• Dates for audit purposes are 1st April 2019 to 1st April 2022.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients outside of these set dates will be excluded.
• Patients who are not currently undergoing haemodialysis treatments are excluded.