Postintervention Patency: A Comparison of Stenting versus Patch Angioplasty for Dysfunctional Hemodialysis Access Sites

BackgroundArteriovenous access dysfunction is commonly caused by venous outflow stenosis, leading to thrombosis of the conduit. Given that there are limited lifetime hemodialysis access sites, the preservation of existing sites through novel means is of high priority. This study compares the efficacy of balloon angioplasty and stent placement to surgical patch angioplasty for upper arm (brachium) thrombosed or dysfunctional hemodialysis access sites in a group of patients at a single institution.MethodsUsing the operating room log and electronic medical record system, we retrospectively examined the outcomes of 52 consecutive patients (3 were lost to follow-up), who had either stent placement (34 patients) or patch angioplasty (15 patients) for hemodialysis access salvage to calculate postintervention patency.ResultsInitial postinterventional patency (PIP1) for patch angioplasty compared with stent placement was not statistically significant at any time during a mean 6-month follow-up (60% vs. 67.65% at 1 month, 33.33% vs. 41.18% at 3 months, and 13.33% vs. 17.65% at 6 months, respectively; P = 0.75). Patency after secondary reintervention (PIP2) was longer for patients who had stent placement as the initial intervention (n = 15) than patients who had patch angioplasty (n = 5; 100% vs. 80% at 1 month, 66.68% vs. 80% at 3 months, and 46.67% vs. 40% at 6 months, respectively), but again there was no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (P = 0.84). At last, the initial PIP1 of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) and arteriovenous graft (AVG) salvaged before occlusion was significantly different from that of occluded access sites (40% vs. 10% at 6 months, P = 0.024).ConclusionsOur data suggest that AVF had a longer postinterventional primary patency than AVG though the difference did not reach statistical significance. Stents extended PIP1 for the thrombosed or failing arteriovenous access longer than patch angioplasty, but the difference was not statistically significant. Patency is longer if intervention is made before graft thrombosis. Our data also indicate better prolongation of patency with a second reintervention (PIP2) if the first intervention was a stent placement. Patch angioplasty appears to be a less attractive alternative for correction of venous outflow stenosis given the more invasive and occasionally technically difficult procedure.