Primary arteriovenous fistula inflow proximalization for patients at high risk for dialysis access-associated ischemic steal syndrome

Establishing a functional vascular access while minimizing the risk of dialysis access-associated ischemic steal syndrome (DASS) may present a challenging problem in patients with severe peripheral vascular disease where even a low-flow arteriovenous fistula (AVF) may lead to severe symptoms and physical findings of DASS. Proximalization of arterial inflow for an existing vascular access is established as an effective treatment for DASS. We hypothesized that a primary proximal arterial inflow procedure for vascular access in patients judged to be at high risk for DASS would result in a successful hemodialysis access and mitigate the risk of steal syndrome. We report four such patients considered to be at significant risk for DASS after construction of a new vascular access. An axillary artery AVF inflow anastomosis was constructed in each patient. The access outflow configuration varied with the available venous outflow conduit identified during the preoperative ultrasound evaluation. In all four patients in this report, a functional autogenous dialysis access was established without DASS.