Abstract

Aim: Tunneled dialysis catheters are generally not used as a primary dialysis access but as bridging therapy until a permanent dialysis access is available. However, it has been stated that long-term use may be appropriate if needed. In our study, we aimed to reveal the long-term patency rates of tunneled dialysis catheters and the frequency of catheter-related diseases in a large patient group.
 Material and Method: Patients who referred to our center for tunneled dialysis catheter insertion procedure between 2017 and 2022 were retrospectively analyzed with respect of catheter patency durations. The duration between the patients’ repetitive admissions to our center due to catheter dysfunction, the cause of the dysfunction and the procedure applied to achieve the patency were noted. Kaplan- Meier survival analysis was used to calculate patency rates of catheters.
 Results: 1010 procedures were performed on 464 patients who applied to our center for tunneled dialysis catheter creation or dysfunction. 309 patients were excluded from the study due to short-term follow-up or lack of data. Of the remaining 155 patients with 211 catheter sites included to the study and 467 interventional procedures data analyzed. The mean primary patency duration of the tunneled dialysis catheters was 10.50±10.25 months and the secondary patency duration was 18.00±13.77 months. The 6, 12, and 24-month patency rates of the overall tunneled dialysis catheters were 91.1 %, 83.9 % and 77.9% respectively
 Conclusion: Although permanent dialysis catheters, which should not be the first choice for arteriovenous access, have associated comorbidities, they are a method with satisfactory patency rates when other access types are not suitable.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call