Muhammad Rafiq Afridi, Muhammad Imran Khan, Jawad Khalil, Mohammad Zarin, Asif Malik, Raza Hassan.
Radial artery internal diameter as a predictor of early failure of arteriovenous fistula in hemodialysis patients.
Pak J Surg Jan ;26(2):100-3.

Objective: To determine the effect of internal diameter of radial artery on arteriovenous fi stulae (AVF) outcome in haemodialysis patients in terms of early AVF failure. Study Design: This was a prospective study. Setting & Duration: This study was carried out at Urology Department, The Institute of Kidney Diseases (IKD), Hayatabad, Peshawar, from June 2009 to Nov 2009. Methodology: A total of 32 consecutive patients with End Stage Renal Diseases (ESRD), needing AVF for hemodialysis, were enrolled in this study. All the patients were evaluated by history, clinical examination and duplex ultrasound. Patients were divided into two groups, A and B (16 patients in each group). In group A the radial artery internal diameter was less than 2 mm and in group B it was 2 to 5 mm. All the patients were subjected to radiocephalic end to side AVF construction. Percentages were calculated for categorical variables while numerical variables were expressed with Mean ± SD with X2 and student t test being the tests of signifi - cance, respectively. Probability < 0.05 was considered signifi cant. Results: The mean age of patients was 39.50 ± 10.04 years in group A and 37.38 ±11.91 years in group B (P = 0.590). Th ere were 9 (56%) males and 7(44%) females in group A compared to 11 (69%) males and 5 (31%) females in group B (P = 0.716). In group A, 7 (43.7%) had a successful fistula compared to 13 (81%) patients in group B (P = 0.02). Conclusion: Th ere is a high failure rate of AVF with radial artery diameter < 2mm. In the presence of small radial artery, proximal (upper arm) should be considered for fashioning AVF.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com