Arteriovenous fistula creation by nephrologist and its outcomes: a prospective cohort study from Vietnam

BACKGROUND: Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the gold standard vascular access for effective hemodialysis. There is a growing interest in AVF creations performed by nephrologists to help reduce vascular surgeons’ workload and enhance the timely treatment of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, little is known about the feasibility and effectiveness of this approach in the low-resource settings. We examined the AVF surgical success and failure rates and associated predictors as well as early complications of AVF creations by a trained nephrologist with supports from vascular surgeons in Vietnam. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted on all adult ESRD patients at the Hemodialysis Department of Thong Nhat Hospital between April 2018 and October 2020. Information on demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and AVF creations was collected using a standardized questionnaire. All patients were followed up until 18 weeks post-surgery. RESULTS: Among 100 patients with a mean age of 61.22 ± 17.11 years old, male accounted for 54%. Common causes of ESRD included hypertension (57%) and diabetes (32%). Just more than half (52%) of them reported having an AVF creation prior to ESRD. The successful first-time AVF creation rate was 98% (13/99, 95%CI: 8.74–21.18%). The primary and secondary AVF failure rates were 13.13% (13/99, 95%CI: 8.74–21.18%) and 16.87% (14/83, 95%CI: 10.32–26.25%), respectively. Early complications included bleeding (1%) and early thrombosis of the anastomosis (2%). There was a statistically significant association between age and primary AVF failure (P = 0.005) and between operation time and secondary AVF failure (P = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: AVF creations performed by well-trained and skilled interventional nephrologists with supports from vascular surgeons can result in favorable short- and long-term outcomes. It is important to follow up older patients and those with a long operation time to detect AVF failures. A standardized AVF creation training program and practice for nephrologists is needed to increase successful rates.