Ligature versus transvenous endovenorrhaphy for closure of side-to-side arteriovenous fistula created for hemodialysis.

PURPOSE To report a novel technique for arteriovenous fistula (AVF) closure in side-to-side fistulas. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred and sixty-two patients with side-to-side AVFs, who were candidates for AVF closure, were randomly divided into two groups: group A (84 patients) who underwent AVF ligature and group B (78 patients) who underwent AVF closure using transvenous endovenorrhaphy technique. Both procedures were conducted by the same surgical team. The patients were followed up for 6 months. RESULTS Of 124 patients with proximal AVFs, 65 (52%) subjects underwent ligation and 59 (42%) transvenous endovenorrhaphy. Of 38 patients with distal AVFs, half underwent ligation and for the remainder, transvenous endovenorrhaphy was done. Failure of AVF closure was detected in 28 (17%) patients; 25 (89.28%) were in group A and 3 (10.71%) were in group B. All of these recurrences were successfully treated by transvenous endovenorrhaphy technique. CONCLUSION We claim that significant lower failure rate of transvenous endovenorrhaphy makes it the technique of choice, especially for side-to-side AVFs.