Dialysis Shunt Thrombectomy Utilizing a Rotational Thrombectomy Device in Patients with Pseudoaneurysms

Aims: To assess the safety and efficacy of dialysis shunt thrombectomy utilizing a rotational thrombectomy device in patients with pseudoaneurysms refractory to declot by conventional treatments. Methods: Between July 2016 and August 2019, 34 dialysis shunt thrombectomies were retrospectively examined in 29 individual patients. All patients presented with pseudoaneurysms and clotted accesses that were refractory to angioplasty balloon sweeps (“push–pull”) to restore patency. The Cleaner® rotational thrombectomy device was used as a bail-out in an attempt to restore patency to the clotted shunt. Procedure success, complications, primary patency, primary-assisted patency, secondary patency, average number of shunt pseudoaneurysms, and average pseudoaneurysm size were documented and analyzed. Results: Thirty-three of the 34 (97%) thrombectomies were successful in restoring patency and facilitating same-day hemodialysis. An average of 1.5 pseudoaneurysms were present per patient (range 1–3 pseudoaneurysms, standard deviation [SD] 0.65 pseudoaneurysms), with an average size of 15.0 mm (range 9.4–31.1 mm, SD 4.87 mm). Postprocedural complications occurred in 14.7% of the cases, none of which were definitively device related. Primary patency to the time of data collection was achieved in 29% of the cases, and the average primary patency for these cases was 124.5 days (range 10–946 days, SD 186.9 days). The average primary-assisted patency was 126.8 days (range 1–564 days, SD 169.8 days). Dialysis accesses were eventually abandoned or surgically revised in ten instances, resulting in an average secondary patency of 157.5 days (range 6–712 days, SD 257 days). Conclusions: In patients with pseudoaneurysms, rotational thrombectomy with the Cleaner® device appeared to be a safe and effective option for restoring patency to thrombosed dialysis accesses refractory to standard push–pull techniques with angioplasty balloons.