THE FREQUENCY OF INFECTIONS OF ARTERIOVENOUS FISTULA IN PATIENTS ON DIALYSIS WITH CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE

Objective: To determine the frequency of infective complication associated with Arteriovenous fistula in patients withchronic kidney disease.Material and Methods: This study was conducted at department of Nephrology, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar.Study design was cross-sectional study (Descriptive) which was conducted for the period of 6 months (January 2014till June 2014).One hundred and fifty six (156) patients were studied, using 9% proportion of infection with 95% confidenceinterval and 4.5% margin of error under WHO software for sample size determination. Moreover consecutive(non-probability sampling technique) was used for sample collection.Results: Maximum number of patients (84%) were in age range of 31-60 years. Mean age was 38 years with standarddeviation ± 2.16. Sixty five percent patients were male and 35% patients were female. Of various complications relatedto AVFs the incidence of infection related to arteriovenous fistula (AVF) was found in 13% of these patients.Conclusion: A functional AVF is a major determinant of successful hemodialysis (HD), however AVF is one of the riskfactor for hospitalization in dialysis patients. Knowledge about the potential complications of AVFs should contributeto their timely detection and allow measures to be taken that might prevent deleterious consequences that range fromloss of vascular access to serious morbidity, and may ultimately be fatal. Therefore, AVF care should be a priority notonly for patients but also for the entire professional team involved in the management of dialysis patients.