Effect of Timing of Thrombectomy on Survival of Thrombosed Arteriovenous Hemodialysis Grafts

Background: The use of an arteriovenous (AV) graft for hemodialysis is associated with a relatively high rate of thrombosis. Unfortunately, the urgent thrombectomy is not always readily available. Our aim was to investigate a possible association between the timing of thrombectomy and the patency rates of AV grafts. Methods: A retrospective single-center study on patients who underwent thrombectomy of clotted AV grafts was conducted. According to the time of thrombectomy, all patients were divided into 4 groups. Results: Primary graft patency at 6 months after thrombectomy was 28.3%, with no significant difference between the study groups ( P = .161). Secondary graft patency at 6 months was significantly worse in the group that underwent thrombectomy between the third and fifth days than in the whole cohort: 15.4% versus 45.6% ( P = .038). Conclusions: Timing of thrombectomy of a clotted AV graft may have a significant impact on the graft survival.