Predicting hemodialysis access failure with the measurement of dialysis access recirculation

Clinical practice guidelines recommend regular monitoring of hemodialysis (HD) vascular access using methods such as vascular access recirculation (AR), for early detection and correction of access dysfunction. We measured access recirculation using low blood flow method in 51 chronic HD patients. Of these patients, 42 had arteriovenous fistulas and nine had synthetic arteriovenous grafts. The mean access recirculation rate was 8.75%. We conclude that AR reflects the access blood flow and patients with high AR rate due to stenosis should be referred for intervention or revision for prolonging the life of the access.