Hemodialysis vascular access monitoring for stenosis

A program evaluation of hemodialysis vascular access monitoring was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of serial, objective measurement, running venous dialysis pressures, in reducing access thrombosis in arterio-venous fistulae, as well as to assess the feasibility of long-term, routine monitoring for clients in a limited-care community hemodialysis unit. In all, 102 of 112 eligible patients participated in the study with a 98% compliance rate. Angiography confirmed stenosis in all eight performed for elevated venous pressures and 16 of 20 performed for clinical suspicion. Venous pressure frequency distributions indicated significantly lower venous pressures in lower arm arterio-venous fistulae than in upper arm arteriovenous fistulae or PTFE grafts. Running venous dialysis pressures are effective and feasible for predicting venous stenoses in arteriovenous fistulae in a limited care community hemodialysis unit. Lower and differentiated threshold pressures would increase the sensitivity of this screening tool; the effect on specificity would have to be evaluated.