Risk Factors of Arteriovenous Fistula Stenosis of Patients with Maintenance Hemodialysis

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk factors of arteriovenous fistula stenosis in maintenance hemodialysis patients. METHODS: A total of 80 patients with maintenance hemodialysis in our hospital from January 2017 to January 2022 were included. According to the stenosis degree of the arteriovenous fistula, patients were divided into a stenosis group (n = 35) and an unobstructed group (n = 45). Laboratory examination data, such as the demographic characteristics of patients, past medical history, the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the TCM for improving blood circulation to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, and cellular immune function, were collected. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the age, sexuality, body mass index, proportion of patients with coronary heart disease, cephalic vein diameter, radial artery diameter, albumin, fibrinogen, and blood calcium levels between the two groups (P > 0.05). Compared with the unobstructed group, the stenosis group had higher rates of diabetes and hypertension as well as significantly higher levels of platelets, parathyroid hormone, and D-dimer (P < 0.05). The proportion of TCM application in the stenosis group was 28.6% (10/35), which was significantly lower than that in the unobstructed group 57.8% (26/45). The difference was statistically significant (χ(2) = 6.785, P=0.009). The levels of CD3+ (37.5 ± 5.1% vs. 42.0 ± 4.8%), CD4+ (35.7 ± 3.2% vs. 39.6 ± 3.1%) and CD4+/CD8+ (1.4 ± 0.3 vs. 2.4 ± 1.0) in the stenosis group were significantly lower, while CD8+ level was significantly higher (26.8 ± 5.1% vs. 18.5 ± 6.2%) than that in the unobstructed group (P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis indicated that the usage of TCM was an independent risk factor for arteriovenous fistula stenosis after adjustment for other factors (odds ratio [OR] 0.302; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.100–0.896; P=0.039). CONCLUSIONS: Less use of traditional Chinese medicine for activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis and poor cellular immune function are important factors affecting the function of the arteriovenous fistula in patients with maintenance hemodialysis, which is worthy of clinical attention.