Complications of Catheters: Tunneled and Nontunneled

Central venous catheters for hemodialysis remain an indispensable modality of vascular access in the United States. Despite strong recommendations by the NKF-KDOQI guidelines to reduce the dependence on catheters, >80% of all patients initiate hemodialysis using a central venous catheter. Although the tunneled dialysis catheters have some advantages, their disadvantages are many and often dwarf the miniscule advantages. This review is intended to discuss the complications—both acute and chronic—related to the use of tunneled dialysis catheters for hemodialysis access.