Anesthetic effect of ultrasound-guided block of the musculocutaneous nerve during endovascular treatment of dysfunctional radiocephalic arteriovenous fistulas.

Background: Delivering requisite and minimal anesthesia for endovascular treatment (EVT) of dysfunctional arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) under the target nerve block can achieve reasonable analgesia. We evaluated the anesthetic efficacy of ultrasound (US)-guided selective block of the musculocutaneous nerve (MCN) during the EVT of runoff venous strictures in the forearm through the radiocephalic (RC)-AVF at the wrist or the anatomical snuff box and analyzed the factors inhibiting the analgesia achieved under the MCN block.

Methods: We enrolled 30 adult patients undergoing hemodialysis who had received 78 EVT sessions in an outpatient clinic mainly for long and/or multiple outflow-venous strictures in the forearm under US-guided blocks of the MCN, which provides sensory innervation to the anterolateral forearm where the cephalic vein courses.

Intractable arteriovenous access-related pain relieved after a single, pain-free hemodialysis session under selective block of the sensory nerves in the upper limb: A psychosocial factorial case.

Intractable arteriovenous access (AVA)-related pain can not only lead to abandonment of a well-functioning AVA, but can also cause hemodialysis (HD) patients to be unwilling to accept, interrupt, or withdraw from HD. Such pain primarily derives from nociceptive and neuropathic factors caused by mechanical stimulation of needle cannulation; however, this might be related to psychosocial factors making it difficult for patients to accept their dependency on HD. Furthermore, the pain can be complicated by the interaction of biological and psychosocial factors, which hampers appropriate pain management and treatment.

Transposition of the superficial femoral artery combined with ultrasound-guided returning-venous cannulation as a last resort for vascular access in a multi-complicated hemodialysis patient.

A superficialized artery as a blood-drawing route could be an option for vascular access (VA) in hemodialysis patients with cardiac failure, vessel damage, steal syndrome, and venous hypertension, and it could be a secondary VA option in those with repetitive vascular access troubles, routinely requiring a blood-returning venous route. The brachial artery is preferably used for superficialization due to the benefit of its appropriate diameter for cannulation, procedural ease of surgery under local anesthesia, and usable subcutaneous vein for blood-returning route in the upper limb. The superficial femoral artery (SFA) has also been reported as a candidate for arterial transposition; however, its subcutaneous transposition could have difficulties in requiring general anesthesia and securing blood-inflow-venous routes.

Cutaneous nerve-conscious surgical repair of vascular access-related aneurysm assisted by anatomical ultrasonography in hemodialysis patients.

Background: The superficial runoff veins anatomically run alongside the cutaneous nerves in the volar forearm. Consequently, the surgical repair of vascular access (VA)-associated venous aneurysms attached to the cutaneous nerves could cause intraoperative nerve injury. Therefore, we proposed a cutaneous nerve-conscious VA-related aneurysmal repair assisted by nerve ultrasonography.

Preoperative ultrasound for runoff-venous decompression of peripheral nerves for arteriovenous access-related pain in the upper limb.

Introduction: Arteriovenous access (AVA)-related pain treated successfully with runoff-venous decompression of the causative nerve, following ultrasound (US)-assisted preoperative evaluation, has never been reported.

Case Presentation: A 57-year-old man suffering from constant exhausting pains along the outflow cephalic vein of the radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula at the wrist and the antecubital fossa, was treated surgically after the diagnosis of AVA-related pain derived from cephalic vein compression on two peripheral cutaneous nerves, the superficial radial nerve (SRN) and the lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve (LACN).

Technique: The SRN and LACN, which ran along and/or provided sensory innervation to the painful regions in the upper limb, were traced using ultrasonography in the short axis and proved to be compressed by and in contact with veins where the pain existed, at the wrist and the antecubital fossa.

Arterial Access Port: A Shunt-Less Vascular Access Using a Blind-Ending Artificial Graft Anastomosed to the Brachial Artery.

We retrospectively investigated the usability of arterial access ports (AAPs), which are blind-ending short prosthetic grafts anastomosed to the brachial artery (BA) and implanted subcutaneously, via which cannulation and blood-drawing from the BA was performed. Nineteen AAPs in 16 patients were evaluated. The AAP cumulative functional usage rate tended to drop within a year after its implantation because of infection and inappropriate positioning; however, its usability was extended for a maximum of 97 months after re-implantation.

Ultrasound-guided block of selective branches of the brachial plexus for vascular access surgery in the forearm: a preliminary report.

Purpose: The operative field for vascular access (VA) surgery in the forearm is on the volar surface, and motor nerve block is not necessary for regional anesthesia. Therefore, selective block of branches of the brachial plexus may be a more efficient anesthesia technique.

Methods: Individual nerve blocks in the axillary brachial plexus and selective blocks of the musculocutaneous and medial antebrachial cutaneous nerves in the upper arm were performed using low doses and concentrations of a local anesthetic mixture of lidocaine and ropivacaine under ultrasound (US) guidance in patients undergoing VA surgery in the forearm.

Sevelamer hydrochloride dose-dependent increase in prevalence of severe acidosis in hemodialysis patients: analysis of nationwide statistical survey in Japan.

Metabolic acidosis has a negative impact on prognosis of dialysis patients. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of severe metabolic acidosis in dialysis patients treated with sevelamer hydrochloride. In 2004, a nationwide survey (101,516 dialysis patients) was conducted by the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy.

A review article: sevelamer hydrochloride and metabolic acidosis in dialysis patients.

Sevelamer hydrochloride is a phosphate binder and its effectiveness to reduce the cardiovascular mortality of dialysis patients has been tested. Sevelamer hydrochloride also contains chlorine, so a decrease in bicarbonate due to chlorine load was anticipated and metabolic acidosis thought to associate with sevelamer hydrochloride has been reported in some papers. We reported that sevelamer hydrochloride exacerbated metabolic acidosis in hemodialysis patients, depending on the dosage.

Sevelamer hydrochloride exacerbates metabolic acidosis in hemodialysis patients, depending on the dosage.

Sevelamer hydrochloride, as a phosphate binder that contains neither aluminum nor calcium, is expected to improve the prognosis of dialysis patients. However, sevelamer hydrochloride has been reported to lower the serum bicarbonate level. In the present study, we performed a retrospective study on the potential influences of sevelamer hydrochloride on metabolic acidosis in hemodialysis patients.

Lowering of oxidative stress in hemodialysis patients by dialysate cleaning: in relation to arteriosclerosis.

The objective of this study was to investigate changes in oxidative stress associated with the cleaning of the dialysate. Thirty-six dialysis patients were studied. Changes in soluble CD-14 (sCD-14), malondialdehyde-low-density lipoprotein (MDA-LDL), and oxidized-LDL (Ox-LDL) were monitored for 1 year before and 1 year after dialysate cleaning.