Should we make perfect fistulas or train our nurses to do better cannulation?

Deborah Brouwer-Maier RN, CNNDirector Dialysis Access Initiatives

Fresenius Medical Care North America

European Vascular Course 2014

Disclosure of speaker’s interests

(Potential) conflict of interest See below

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in connection with event 1

Fresenius Medical Care North America

• Sponsorship or research funding2

• Fee or other (financial) payment3

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• Other relationship, i.e. …5

Employee

Short Answer-BOTH

Need more consistent AVF maturation and more consistent cannulation skills

US Study Showed High AVF Fail to Mature Rates

Objectives and Design of the Hemodialysis Fistula Maturation Study American Journal of Kidney Diseases Volume 63, Issue 1 , Pages 104-112, January 2014

Objectives and Design of the Hemodialysis Fistula Maturation Study: Background A large proportion of newly created arteriovenous fistulas cannot be used for dialysis because they fail to mature adequately to support the hemodialysis blood circuit. The Hemodialysis Fistula Maturation (HFM) Study was designed to elucidate clinical and biological factors associated with fistula maturation outcomes.

Setting & Participants : Approximately 600 patients undergoing creation of a new hemodialysis fistula will be enrolled at 7 centers in the United States and followed up for as long as 4 years.

Fistula Maturation StudyOutcomes: The primary outcome is unassisted clinical maturation, defined as successful use of the fistula for dialysis for 4 weeks without maturation-enhancing procedures. Secondary outcomes include assisted clinical maturation, ultrasound-based anatomical maturation, fistula procedures, fistula abandonment, and central venous catheter use.

Measurements: Preoperative ultrasound arterial and venous mapping, flow-mediated and nitroglycerin-mediated brachial artery dilation, arterial pulse wave velocity, and venous distensibility; intraoperative vein tissue collection for histopathologic and molecular analyses; postoperative ultrasounds at 1 day, 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and prior to fistula intervention and initial cannulation.

Goal 50% unassisted maturation

Fistula Maturation Study

• DAC Study- Fistula surgeries were performed at 27 hospitals by 71 surgeons, and dialysis was performed at 125 facilities affiliated with the 9 clinical centers.

• Equals 12.3 cases per surgeons

Would You Have Surgery With a 50% Success Rate?

• I would not if I was informed of the odds

• Patients are not given the surgeon’s success rates to even make an informed decision

• Why should our patients be uniformed?

Leads to Questions

Leads to Questions (continued)

• There does not appear to be any agreed surgical protocol in the article.

• Are these surgeons dedicated to vascular access? Vascular surgeons in my institution say that one cannot perform carotid artery endarterectomies if one deals with less than 30 cases a year.

• Should we not consider a minimum number of fistulae created per year per surgeon before reporting series like this one?

We Need to Determine the best Anastomosis

• No standardization of the key element of AVF creation – the anastomosis!

• No standardization of the flow dynamics of the AVF

• No standardization = No Best Practices = Varied Outcomes

Or train our nurses to do better cannulation?

• YES• No standardization of the key element of AVF

use– the cannulation!• No standardization for cannulation training• No standardization = No Best Practices =

Varied Outcomes

What are we missing?

• Tools to teach cannulation in a safe non-harmful environment (not using patients as training models)

• Need as standardized cannulation training program that includes theory of cannulation

• Need more evidence to support best cannulation techniques – not myths

Potential Solutions

• Improved Hemodialysis Fake Arms

Potential Solutions?

• Virtual Simulator Virtual I.V.® Simulator orVirtual Phlebotomy® by Leardal

Simulation

• What is Simulation?“Simulation is the imitation or representation of one act or system by another. Healthcare simulations can be said to have four main purposes – education, assessment, research, and health system integration in facilitating patient safety.”

Simulation

• “Simulation education is a bridge between classroom learning and real-life clinical experience.”

Advantages of Simulation Learning A range of easily accessible learning

opportunitiesThe freedom to make mistakes and to learn

from themThe learning experience can be customizedDetailed feedback and evaluation

Should we make perfect fistulas or train our nurses to do better cannulation?

• Both

Deborah.Brouwer-Maier@fmc-na.com

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