Common Complications of AV Fistula: Best Hospital for Treatment

Dr.Abhishek Bansal, 3 mins read

AV fistula or arteriovenous fistula is a lifeline for patients undergoing dialysis. It is a connection between an artery and a vein that facilitates the hemodialysis process. But sometimes AV fistula can have numerous complications like non-maturation, stenosis, aneurysm, infection, heart problems, lymphedema, steal syndrome, thrombosis, and ischemic neuropathy. This guide will discuss the common complications of AV fistula, and its treatment.

What Is AV Fistula?

Patients with kidney failure frequently need to undergo dialysis. Dialysis is a machine that works like kidneys and filters out toxins from the body. For this purpose, a patient must undergo a minor procedure to create an access point for the machine.

It is performed by a vascular surgeon or an interventional radiologist and is usually done six weeks before the first dialysis session. This allows the connection to heal and get ready to withstand numerous dialysis sessions, and this process is called the maturation of the fistula.

During the procedure, the doctor connects an artery and a vein, usually in the arm or the wrist.

As this procedure is a bit like creating a new pathway for blood flow, it can also lead to some challenges.

Most Common Complications of AV Fistula

Non-maturation: AV fistula needs time to heal and enlarge the vein’s size for proper blood flow. When the fistula fails to develop adequately or fails within a few sessions of dialysis, it is called a non-matured AV fistula.

Stenosis: Arteriovenous fistula is at risk of damage due to changing blood flow rate or pressure. In response, our body sends extra cells to repair the damage. These cells can accumulate over time and cause narrowing of the AV fistula. As a result, the blood flow is either reduced or stopped. This condition is called stenosis. Stenosis affects the dialysis treatment, causing prolonged bleeding after a puncture, pain in the fistula, or blocked access.

Aneurysm: Contrary to stenosis, aneurysm causes abnormal widening or ballooning of the arteriovenous fistula. This widening is often 50% greater than the vessel’s normal diameter. This causes pain in the fistula, vein enlargement, shiny skin appearance over the fistula, increased blood flow through the fistula, and thinning of the skin over the fistula.

Infections: Infections are like uninvited guests that can create a ruckus, causing symptoms like fever, redness, pain, chills, swelling, tenderness, discharge of pus from the access site, and skin breakdown.

Heart problems: AV fistula causes a large proportion of arterial blood to move from left-sided circulation to right-sided circulation, which puts a strain on the heart. Over time, this can affect heart health or sometimes cause heart failure. It causes symptoms like fatigue, shortness of breath, chest discomfort, rapid heartbeat, and swelling in the legs.

Lymphedema: A rare complication of AV fistula, lymphedema refers to swelling of the arm near the access point. It is caused when the AV fistula affects the lymphatic system of that region. This leads to symptoms like skin changes and a feeling of heaviness and discomfort.

Steal Syndrome: As the name suggests, a steal syndrome happens when an AV fistula draws more blood than usual, affecting blood flow to the hand beyond the site of AV fistula. This can cause coolness, numbness, muscle weakness, and diminished pulse in the hand.

Thrombosis: This refers to the formation of blood clots within the arteriovenous fistula, which can reduce blood flow through the fistula. As a result, you can have swelling, redness, pain, and discomfort near the access site. The nurse can also have difficulty accessing the fistula.

Ischemic neuropathy: A rare condition that occurs when reduced blood flow to a limb due to AV fistula causes nerve damage. This leads to pain, numbness, and weakness in the affected arm.

Best Hospital for Treatment of AV Fistula Complications

Aakash Healthcare is one of the best hospitals in India for the treatment of AV fistula complications, including non-maturation, stenosis, aneurysm, infection, heart problems, lymphedema, steal syndrome, thrombosis, and ischemic neuropathy.

We use evidence-based medicine and if needed, offer minimally invasive and effective procedures. Our primary goal is to treat the existing AV fistula, and we have done this for innumerable patients. We take pride in being among a few centres in India that offer minimally invasive procedures for the treatment of AV fistula complications.