Surveillance and Proactive Intervention for Dialysis Access

Newly formed dialysis fistulae can often fail, and failure is usually due to narrowing of the blood vessels. Methods of detecting narrowing are available and, more importantly, can detect narrowings before a fistula fails. It is not known whether treating these narrowings will actually improve fistula survival or if the majority can be left alone. we wish to see if we can detect such narrowings with ultrasound scanning and if early detection and treatment improves patient outcomes.