Non-surgical salvage of thrombosed arterio-venous fistulae: a case series and review of the literature.

Attempts to salvage thrombosed hemodialysis arterio-venous fistulae (AVF) using interventional techniques are not universally performed. Patients often require temporary dialysis catheters pending creation of a new vascular access. We determined the long-term outcome of interventional (non-surgical) repair of completely thrombosed AVF in 49 consecutive accesses (22 radio-cephalic, 1 radio-basilic, 19 brachio-cephalic, and 7 brachio-basilic) referred for an intervention within 48 hours of thrombosis.