Predialysis Vascular Access Placement and Catheter Use at Hemodialysis Initiation

Background Current guidelines encourage placement of an arteriovenous (AV) fistula in patients with advanced CKD to avoid initiation of hemodialysis with a central venous catheter. However, the relative merits of predialysis placement of an AV fistula or graft have been poorly studied.Methods This study included 380 patients (mean age 59 +/- 14 years, 73% Black patients, 51% male) from a large academic medical center who underwent predialysis placement of an AV fistula (286) or AV graft (94). The study quantified three end points: time from access placement to initiation of dialysis, likelihood of starting hemodialysis without a catheter, and number of vascular access procedures before dialysis initiation.Results The eGFR at access surgery was <10, 10-14, and >= 15 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) in 87 (23%), 179 (47%), and 114 (30%) patients, respectively. The median time from access surgery to hemodialysis initiation was 69, 156, and 429 days in patients with an eGFR of <10, 10-14, and >= 15 ml/min per 1.73 m(2), respectively (P < 0.001). Hemodialysis was initiated within 2 years of access surgery in 298 (78%) of the patients. Catheter-free hemodialysis initiation was higher in patients with an AV graft versus an AV fistula when the eGFR was <10 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) (88% versus 43%; odds ratio [OR], 9.10 [95% confidence interval, 2.74 to 26.4]) and when the eGFR was 10-14 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) (88% versus 54%; OR, 6.05 [2.35 to 15.0]) but similar when the eGFR was >= 15 ml/min per 1.73 m2 (90% versus 75%; OR, 3.00 [0.48 to 34.9]). Patients undergoing an AV fistula were more likely to undergo an angioplasty (11% versus 0%, P < 0.001), surgical access revision (26% versus 8%, P < 0.001), a second access placement (16% versus 6%, P = 0.02), and a catheter insertion (32% versus 11%, P < 0.001).Conclusions Among patients with CKD undergoing vascular access surgery when their eGFR was <15 ml/min per 1.73 m(2), catheter use at dialysis initiation was much less likely when an AV graft, rather than an AV fistula, was placed.