Ultrasound Assisted Puncture of AV Fistulas in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients

NCT ID: NCT02085486

Last Updated: 2023-01-30

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

WITHDRAWN

Clinical Phase

NA

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2017-08-31

Study Completion Date

2018-05-31

Brief Summary

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The puncture of the vascular access in hemodialysis patients remains challenging even in the hands of experienced dialysis nurses. Unsuccessful punctures are associated with resource wastage, traumatism of the AV shunts, shortening of the effective dialysis time and poor patient satisfaction.

The use of ultrasound by emergency department nurses and technicians without prior ultrasound experience in patients with difficult intravenous access showed in several studies to be very efficient. The investigators expect to achieve similar results in cannulation of AV shunts by the dialysis nurse staff after a short learning program.

To show this, the investigators aim to conduct a trail where standard cannulation technique (inspection, palpation) will be compared with the ultrasound-assisted method in terms of efficacy, safety and patient satisfaction.

Detailed Description

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Background

The vascular access plays a central role in patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing chronic hemodialysis. It is well documented from various previous studies that the confection of the dialysis access and subsequent complications represent a major cause of morbidity, hospitalization and additional costs in chronic dialysis patients.

In European countries most patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis use an arterio-venous fistula as permanent vascular access. Because of the anatomical differences of each individual and the accompanying chronic diseases affecting patients' vessels, cannulation of arterio-venous fistulas can be very challenging for the nursing personal and puncture failures necessitating repeated attempts are not so rare. The latter are often time-consuming and result in a loss of effective dialysis' time and reduced proceeded total blood volume, are associated with a higher rate of local complications due to repeated traumatisms of the vascular wall and can lead to severe pain with reduced patient satisfaction.

In the investigators' dialysis unit, when a dialysis nurse is not able to puncture a fistula she refers to an experienced nurse who tries to cannulate the fistula after thorough visual and palpatory evaluation. In case of another failure, the nursing team refers to the dialysis physician, who performs a short diagnostic bed-side ultrasound of the vascular access to rule out the presence of thrombosis or large hematoma. Using ultrasound-guidance provided by the physician or after being informed about the localization and depth of the ideal puncture site, the dialysis nurse tries then to puncture the fistula again. This often leads to a greater loss of time with reduced effective dialysis dose, increased need for human resources and low patient satisfaction.

The use of ultrasound by emergency department nurses and technicians without prior ultrasound experience in patients with difficult intravenous access showed in several studies to be very efficient. The method was safe, the procedure rapid, the patients more satisfied, the success rate as high as this from ultrasound trained emergency physicians and the need for physician intervention reduced. The achievement of similar results in AV fistula cannulation in hemodialysis patients would be very suitable.

The use of ultrasound in patients with recognized difficult fistulas by dialysis nurses after a short ultrasound learning program provided by an index nurse will enable to achieve a higher rate of satisfactory double-needle punctures, usual blood flow rates and full dialysis length with less time loss and increased patient satisfaction.

With this study prospective, single-centre, randomized, controlled study the investigators aim to show that the use of ultrasound by dialysis nurses in patients with difficult fistulas makes the punction of the fistulas easier than when assessing the fistula visually and manually.

Objective

The use of ultrasound in patients with recognized difficult fistulas by dialysis nurses after a short ultrasound learning program provided by an index nurse will enable to achieve a higher rate of satisfactory double-needle punctures, usual blood flow rates and full dialysis length with less time loss and increased patient satisfaction. With a prospective, controlled trail the investigators want to demonstrate this hypothesis.

Methods

A portable ultrasound device will be used by the nursing staff after a short learning program. Precise location of AV shunt segments and depth will be assessed in the case of a difficult shunt. This procedure will be compared with the standard inspection and palpation method.

Conditions

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Dialysis Fistula

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Ultrasound-assisted puncture

Ultrasound-assisted puncture by the nursing staff of patients with difficult AV-shunts.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Ultrasound-assisted puncture

Intervention Type DEVICE

Portable ultrasound device

Standard

Classical method wtih inspection and palpation

Group Type OTHER

Standard

Intervention Type OTHER

Standard inspection, palpation.

Interventions

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Ultrasound-assisted puncture

Portable ultrasound device

Intervention Type DEVICE

Standard

Standard inspection, palpation.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Forearm or upper arm AV-shunt (native, mixed, graft)
* Patients with recognized difficult vascular access at any time (potentially each patient)
* Written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

* Recent AV-shunt surgery (\< 48 h)
* Presence of large bandages or severe skin lesions in the area of interest
* Inability to understand the aim of the study and to give a written informed consent
* Single needle
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Robert M Kalicki, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Universitätsklinik für Nephrologie, Hypertonie und Klinische Pharmakologie, Inselspital Bern

References

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Feldman HI, Kobrin S, Wasserstein A. Hemodialysis vascular access morbidity. J Am Soc Nephrol. 1996 Apr;7(4):523-35. doi: 10.1681/ASN.V74523.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 8724885 (View on PubMed)

Hakim R, Himmelfarb J. Hemodialysis access failure: a call to action. Kidney Int. 1998 Oct;54(4):1029-40. doi: 10.1046/j.1523-1755.1998.00122.x.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 9767519 (View on PubMed)

Saudan P, Kossovsky M, Halabi G, Martin PY, Perneger TV; Western Switzerland Dialysis Study Group. Quality of care and survival of haemodialysed patients in western Switzerland. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2008 Jun;23(6):1975-81. doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfm915. Epub 2007 Dec 22.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 18156654 (View on PubMed)

Brannam L, Blaivas M, Lyon M, Flake M. Emergency nurses' utilization of ultrasound guidance for placement of peripheral intravenous lines in difficult-access patients. Acad Emerg Med. 2004 Dec;11(12):1361-3. doi: 10.1197/j.aem.2004.08.027.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15576530 (View on PubMed)

Bauman M, Braude D, Crandall C. Ultrasound-guidance vs. standard technique in difficult vascular access patients by ED technicians. Am J Emerg Med. 2009 Feb;27(2):135-40. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2008.02.005.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19371518 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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SNCTP000000515

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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