Prevention better than cure. Avoiding steal syndrome with proximal radial or ulnar arteriovenous fistulae.

Background: Steal syndrome is a significant complication of arteriovenous fistulae (AVF). We wanted to assess an alternative technique to reduce the incidence of steal syndrome and add an extra option for vascular access for long-term hemodialysis patients

Methods: All patients who underwent proximal radial or ulnar artery AVF between 2003 and 2007 were evaluated retrospectively.

Results: There were 58 patients, 35 men and 23 women, and the median age was 60 years (range 19-85 years). The proximal radial artery was used in 50 (89%) of cases and the ulnar artery in 8. Three fistulae (5%) failed in the first week, 3 others failed later, prior to use leading to a 90% successful patency rate. One diabetic patient developed steal syndrome and re-presented to the surgeons at a late stage when they had finger ulceration and it was decided to ligate the fistula in this case. Thus, the overall incidence of steal syndrome was low at 2%.

Conclusions: It is suggested that arterio-venous fistulae using proximal radial or ulnar arteries can be performed before brachio-cephalic fistulae since they offer long-term patency and reduced incidence of steal syndrome. Brachio-cephalic AVF can be performed subsequently if necessary.