Arteriovenous fistulas

Recently an article appeared in the Student BMJ on Arteriovenous fistulas which was quite interesting. According to the article recent rise in patients with renal disease has caused a high need for patient to get arteriovenous fistulas for haemodialysis (a method to remove waste products such as creatinine, urea and free water from the blood when the kidneys are in a state of renal failure).

So what are arteriovenous fistulas?  An arteriovenous fistula is surgically created to facilitate haemodialysis by connecting a section of a vein to and artery. This creates an arterialised venous channel which has the combined advantage of the veins large diameter and the arteries high blood flow. It helps to regulate blood flow to at least 300mL/min, while helping to maintain a large diameter, sufficient length and a long term patency care. Some patients may even undergo several multiple fistula procedures during their time on haemodialysis, with the non dominant arm being used firsts.

An arteriovenous fistula should be checked if new symptoms have come up such as pain, swelling, enlargement or difficulty in dialysis. The recent rise in patients needing arteriovenous fistulas is due to the increasing ageing population with increased rates of diabetes.