# Arteriovenous fistula cannulation

- Link: https://sifsof.com/clinical-apps/arteriovenous-fistula-cannulation/
- Published: 2021-08-22T18:32:58+00:00
- Author: Monica

The most frequent kind of dialysis is hemodialysis. It’s a technique that uses an
artificial kidney called a hemodialyzer. Blood is drawn from the body through tubes
and circulated through a dialyzer machine where it is filtered and cleaned before
being returned to the body.

The hemodialyzer is connected to the patient’s body through blood vessels; **Arteriovenous
Fistula Cannulation (AVF)** and **Vascular access catheter**.

The arteriovenous fistula is the recommended dialysis access. This is owing to its
high patency rate and the puncture sites’ great capacity to recover.

The most frequent type of AV fistula is one that connects the radial artery to the
cephalic vein and is formed at the patient’s wrist. In the upper arm, a fistula 
can be formed by connecting the brachial artery to the axillary vein or another 
upper arm vein, all of which go to the subclavian vein. In patients with restricted
access options, a leg fistula can also be formed.

Since the placement and direction of the access needles can vary, needle-site selection
should be determined before skin preparation and needle cannulation are performed.
Indeed, it is difficult to cannulate a deep, small, or stiff vessel of an AV fistula
on the first attempt. For this reason, vein finders are highly needed.

For instance, The [FDA Portable Vein Detector SIFVEIN-5.2](https://sifsof.com/product/medical-vein-finder-sifvein-5-2/)
has a scan depth of a maximum of 10 mm, perfect for mapping out veins in the arm
and the forearm, Which allows for the safe insertion of a catheter into a collapsed
central vein and repetitive direct puncture of a femoral vein.

The SIFVEIN-5.2 reduces the risk of catheter-related bloodstream infection by avoiding
the use of an indwelling dual-lumen catheter.

When a needle is inserted using the traditional method and the operator determines
that the insertion is likely to fail (i.e., no blood return, resistance to catheter
advancement, etc.), vein finder real-time guidance can be used to correct the needle
tip location.

To sum up, using a vein finder allows for real-time guided and precise vascular 
cannulation, which can have a major influence on both the patient and the budget.

References: [Cannulation Camp: Basic needle cannulation training for dialysis staff](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/dat.20622),
[Cannulation technique](https://www.kidney-international.org/article/S0085-2538(15)30361-6/fulltext),

 * ![FDA Portable Vein Detector SIFVEIN-5.2](https://sifsof.com/wp-content/uploads/
   2018/06/FDA-Portable-Vein-Detector-SIFVEIN-5.2-1-300x300.jpg)
 * FDA Portable Vein Detector SIFVEIN-5.2