Single or Dual Antiplatelet Therapy Improves One-Year Arteriovenous Graft Patency and Overall Survival.

Background: Following new dialysis access creation there is no consensus on the optimal use of anti-thrombotic therapy. Recent studies have suggested that single antiplatelet therapy may improve hospital mortality as well as patency. The aim of this study was to assess the role of different antiplatelet and anticoagulation therapies on outcomes following dialysis access creation.

Material And Methods: A retrospective study was conducted utilizing patients from the Vascular Quality Initiative who underwent AV fistula (AVF) and AV graft (AVG) creation from 2011-2023. Patients who were antiplatelet and anticoagulation naive were separated into 4 cohorts: no antiplatelet (No APT), single antiplatelet (SAPT), dual antiplatelet (DAPT), and aspirin with anticoagulation (ASA + AC). Univariate Kaplan-Meier (KM) and multivariable regression analyses were conducted to assess overall survival, primary patency, and secondary patency.

Results: 49,980 patients with AVF creation and 12,688 patients with AVG creation were identified. AVG patients had improved 1-year primary patency with SAPT compared to No APT (48% vs. 44%, P = 0.03) on KM analysis. No difference on KM analysis was observed for AVF. Regression analysis showed decreased risk of loss of primary patency for AVF (HR 0.90, CI 0.83-0.97, P = 0.009). AVG with SAPT showed decreased risk of mortality (HR 0.80, CI 0.64-1.00, P = 0.05) and decreased risk of loss of primary patency (HR 0.80, CI 0.67-0.94, P = 0.009). DAPT also showed decreased risk of loss of primary patency for AVG (HR 0.64, CI 0.43-0.95, P = 0.028). Survival was worse for both AVF and AVG patients on ASA + AC on KM analysis.

Conclusions: Single antiplatelet therapy following access creation improves primary patency for both AVF and AVG, as well as overall survival for those with AVG. DAPT may further improve primary patency in those with AVG. The use of anticoagulation shows no clear benefit and may be harmful, however is more likely to reflect higher risk patients with other co-morbidities. These results suggest that following an AVF one should consider discharging patients on SAPT, and following an AVG one should consider SAPT or DAPT.