Epidemiology of vascular access and complications in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis in Tianjin

Abstract

Objective To investigate the use of vascular access and complication incidence in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis in Tianjin. Methods Patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis in the third level of first-class hospital in Tianjin were investigated. The investigate method was live interview. Two thousand six hundred and fifty-one cases were available. Basic data, age of dialysis, type of vascular access, age of vascular access and complications were recorded. The differences in clinic data and complications between patients using arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) and central venous catheter (CVC) as vascular access were compared. Results There were 2047(77.22%) patients using AVF as vascular access, 559 (22.59%) patients using tunnel type central venous catheter, and 5 (0.19%) patients using arteriovenous graft (AVG) for maintenance hemodialysis. Most patients used temporary catheter as the first vascular access [2484(93.70%)]. Compared to AVF, CVC had high incidence of thrombosis and infection in the first four years (P=0.003). Conclusions AVF remains the first choice for maintenance hemodialysis. Most patients use AVF as their vascular access. The second preferred choice is CVC. The management of late chronic kidney disease should be enhanced to avoid the high usage of temporary catheter. Key words: Renal dialysis; Vascular access; Epidemiology