Long-Term Results of PTFE Grafts

Abstract

Vascular surgeons are essential in “lifeline” creation for hemodialysis patients and should be the central player in any multidisciplinary access service together with nephrologists, dialysis staff and interventional radiology. In this position, access surgeons are involved in complicated clinical decision making regarding primary and secondary access selection, which throughout the last decade has been largely aided, and influenced, by national and international guidelines as well as other initiatives. These recommendations, unanimously and appropriately, advocate the placement of native fistulas over synthetic grafts (the majority grafts from expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, ePTFE, herein referred to as PTFE) based on the superiority of fistulas with respect to complications such as infections and thrombosis. Nevertheless, the use of PTFE grafts for hemodialysis access is an accepted and firmly established alternative to native fistulas where data today reveal unwanted consequences to overinterpretation of established guidelines such as increased catheter use. This information highlights a need for an adjustment of access selection strategies based on patient-centered algorithms. Here, available results on PTFE graft performance in hemodialysis access is recapitulated, with respect to both conventional grafts and technical modifications, and conclude with a modified approach to primary access selection.