Narayana Health Care
  • Cardiology
  • Gastroenterology
  • Nephrology
  • Neurology
  • Oncology
  • Book An Appointment
    • Video Consultation
    • Physical Consultation
  • English
    • Hindi
    • Bengali
Narayana Health Care
  • Cardiology
  • Gastroenterology
  • Nephrology
  • Neurology
  • Oncology
  • Book An Appointment
    • Video Consultation
    • Physical Consultation
  • English
    • Hindi
    • Bengali
Home > Blog > Vascular Surgery > DIALYSIS & A-V FISTULA
Vascular Surgery

DIALYSIS & A-V FISTULA

by Narayana Health April 4, 2020
written by Narayana Health April 4, 2020
DIALYSIS & A-V FISTULA | Narayana Health

Dialysis is a medical procedure performed on a person when one or both their kidneys fail. When the kidneys are no longer able to perform their daily tasks, the doctors recommend the patient to start dialysis. With the help of dialysis, the blood in the body is washed and poisons, waste and extra water are removed. Dialysis is a replacement for the function of the kidneys until the time the patient finds a healthy donor for a kidney transplant. During this procedure, the blood from the body is removed and cleaned in the dialysis machine and then pumped back into the patient’s body in a continuous cycle. To remove, clean and return blood, large tubes are put into the patient’s blood vessels. For this procedure to be successful, the patient needs to have blood vessels that have a large amount of blood flowing through them.

In order to develop a tube naturally, an AV fistula is created before dialysis. Surgery is carried out at which time two different types of blood vessels – arteries and veins are joined together creating an A–V fistula. The arteries carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the other parts of the body and the veins carry the blood back to the heart. By doing this operation, a vein can be developed into a tube that can be used for dialysis. As normal veins don’t have enough blood flowing through them a fistula is performed. Once the surgery is done, the body goes through some changes resulting in fistula maturation. It leads to more blood flowing into the vein. Once the fistula completely matures, the blood flow increases from 30 – 40 ml/min to over 300 ml/min. This helps in making the vein thicker and able to tolerate the large dialysis needles.

The thing with fistula is, not all can be used during dialysis. Unfortunately, some of the fistulas get blocked very soon after the surgery while the open ones fail to mature. This could be due to many factors like smaller blood vessels that never enlarge enough for use, weak heart pump leading to weak blood flow into the veins, damaged blood vessels due to needles/samples turning into an unusable fistula and blocks in the arteries leading to less blood flow.

The majority of the fistulas are made in the arms by injecting an anaesthetic into the area of operation. As it’s a small procedure, the patient can be awake throughout the operation. Fistulas are performed on the arms and on rare occasions they are done on the legs.

There are different alternatives to a fistula but most of the times the preferred option recommended by the doctors is to use one’s own blood vessels. That being said, plastic tubes i.e. catheters is one of the options, but it carries a high risk of infection and blockage. The second option is the AV Graft. Here, if the patient doesn’t have suitable blood vessels, the doctor may tell them to use a plastic graft to be placed under the skin. Other options include Peritoneal Dialysis and Tunnelled catheters.

The most common areas to make fistulas are wrist and elbow. Whether if it’s possible completely depends on the suitability of the patient’s blood vessels. As all fistulas don’t work forever, the doctor after a thorough examination will preserve as many options as possible which will be suitable for the patient. As fistulas can be affected by disease or not function properly like other body parts, procedures like angioplasty can be performed to save them.

Doctors recommend the best time to make a fistula is before starting dialysis. Patients with deteriorating kidney functions are advised to get a working fistula ready well before dialysis is performed to avoid plastic tubes and their risks.

Dr. Robbie George | Chief of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery | Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center, Bommasandra, Bangalore

AngioplastyDialysisDialysis EquipmentFistulaKidney FailureKidney Failure treatmentkidney patientsKidney Transplant
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsapp
previous post
Coronavirus & Respiratory system
next post
लिवर प्रत्यारोपण कब तक चलेगा?

You may also like

क्या आप वैरिकाज़ नसों के बारे में जानते...

March 12, 2021

Varicose Veins: Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment

December 13, 2020

Symptoms of Varicose Veins: How Is It Diagnosed?

December 9, 2020

Lesser known facts about Peripheral Artery Disease

July 29, 2020

Deep Vein Thrombosis

April 9, 2020

Peripheral Artery Disease

April 8, 2020

Varicose Vein

April 7, 2020

Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm

April 6, 2020

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

April 5, 2020

QUICK LINKS

Book an Appointment

Find a Doctor

Hospitals

Medical Services

About NH

Narayana Health

Narayana Health is headquartered in Bengaluru, India, and operates a network of hospitals across the country, with a particularly strong presence in the southern state of Karnataka and eastern India, as well as an emerging presence in northern, western and central India. Our first facility was established in Bengaluru with approximately 225 operational beds and we have since grown to 23 hospitals, 7 heart centres, 19 primary care facilities across India and an international hospital in the Cayman Islands.

Keep In Touch

Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin Youtube Telegram

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Boosting your Immune System against Coronavirus: How to minimize the risk of...

    April 2, 2020
  • 2

    How to maintain a Balanced Diet

    September 3, 2019
  • 3

    Coronavirus Testing – How to Test for Coronavirus? – Different Types of Tests

    March 13, 2020
  • 4

    Know about proper usage, disposal and reuse of mask

    April 6, 2020

Categories

  • Aids (5)
  • Bengali (1)
  • Blood Pressure (4)
  • Bone Marrow Transplant (12)
  • Breast Cancer (28)
  • Cancer (48)
  • Cardiac Surgery (23)
  • Cardiology (167)
  • Coronavirus (110)
  • Dental Sciences (2)
  • Dermatology (15)
  • Diabetes (37)
  • E. N. T – Paediatric (7)
  • E. N. T. (9)
  • ECMO (1)
  • Endocrinology (11)
  • Gastroenterology (34)
  • General Health (127)
  • General Surgery (4)
  • Gynaecology (46)
  • Haematology (5)
  • Health Nuggets (44)
  • Healthy Life (2)
  • Hepatology (14)
  • Hindi (7)
  • Infectious Diseases (4)
  • Kidney (5)
  • Liver (30)
  • Medical Oncology (1)
  • Mental Health (4)
  • Narayana Health (243)
  • Nephrology (34)
  • Neurology (103)
  • Neurosurgery (30)
  • News (6)
  • NH services (6)
  • Nutrition and Diet (27)
  • Oncology (108)
  • Organ Donation (1)
  • Orthopaedics (102)
  • Paediatric Cardiology (11)
  • Paediatric Liver Transplant (1)
  • Paediatric Oncology (3)
  • Paediatric Surgery (4)
  • Paediatrics (77)
  • Pain & Palliative Care (4)
  • Pregnancy (9)
  • Psychology (5)
  • Pulmonology (34)
  • Radiation Oncology (8)
  • Rheumatology (4)
  • Services (3)
  • Spine Surgery (30)
  • Stroke (7)
  • Swine Flu (1)
  • Transplant (1)
  • Urology (38)
  • Vascular Surgery (10)

Follow us

QUICK LINKS

Find a Doctor

Book an Appointment

Make an Enquiry

Feedback

Hospitals

Blogs

Privilege card

Heart Rhythm Disorder

NH CARES

Hernia

Lung Cancer

Brain Tumour

Liver Cancer

Heart Attack

Urinary Problems

Heart Transplant

Kidney Transplant

Bone Marrow Transplant

Pulmonary Hypertension

CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

Liver Transplant & HPB Surgery

Cardiology

Cardiac Surgery

Neurology

Neurosurgery

Orthopaedics

Robotic Surgery

Vascular Surgery

Nephrology

Radiation Oncology

MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS

Academics

Clinical Research

NH Colleges

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. Let's stay updated!

About Narayana Health

|

Stakeholder Relations

|

News & Media Relations

|

Awards and Accreditations

|

Leadership

|

Careers

|

CSR

|

Sitemap

© Narayana Hrudayalaya Ltd | All rights reserved
NPPA Implant Pricing     Terms & Conditions     Privacy Policy     Disclaimer

Book Online Consultation