Vascular ultrasound for the pre-operative evaluation prior to arteriovenous fistula formation for haemodialysis: review of the evidence

Abstract

The arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the preferred access for haemodialysis [ 1 ]. However, AVF failure has become more common over the last three decades as more patients are older, and have diabetes or vascular disease. For radiocephalic AVF, a meta-analysis estimated modest primary (63%) and secondary (66%) patencies at 1 year [ 2 ].