The importance of timing of surgery for hemodialysis vascular access thrombectomy

The effect of delay in thrombectomy of occluded hemodialysis accesses was examined to determine whether a critical period exists during which a salvage procedure was more likely to be successful. A total of 1,126 vascular access surgeries between January 1, 1989, and December 31, 1994, were analyzed. No period of delay in thrombectomy was found when it was possible to say with certainty that an access could not be salvaged, although success was greatest in the first 48 h. Autogenous fistulas were less likely to be salvaged and surgery was unlikely to be successful if performed later than the day of thrombosis. However, grafts were likely to undergo successful thrombectomy even 3 days after thrombosis. Overall when the delay was more than 3 weeks after thrombosis, a new access was more likely to be constructed than the thrombosed access was to be successfully declotted.