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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Technical Aspects of the Mouse Aortocaval Fistula
Published on: July 11, 2013
Complications of lower extremity arteriovenous grafts in patients with end-stage renal disease
K M Vogel1, M A Martino, S P O'Brien
1Department of Surgery, Medical College of Pennsylvania-Hahnemann University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, USA.
Background:
More data are needed to assess lower extremity angioaccess sites for hemodialysis.
Methods:
We did a retrospective review of 843 consecutive hospital records of upper and lower extremity arteriovenous (AV) fistulas from 1992 to 1996.
Results:
Lower extremity grafts accounted for 16% (134/843) of patients in this series. Complications occurred in 58 of 134 patients (43%) and were more prevalent in women, blacks, diabetic, and hypertensive patients, but not of statistical significance. Dialysis was done for a mean duration of 13.3 years, with a mean graft patency rate of 13.8 months. The 12-month survival rate of lower extremity AV grafts was 62% (83/134). Complications in the lower extremity AV graft group (58 patients) included infections in 27 patients (46%), thrombosis within 30 days in 16 (28%), pseudoaneurysm in 9 (16%), and graft hemorrhage in 6 (10%).
Conclusions:
There is a decreased patency rate in lower extremity AV grafts.
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