Outcome of thigh arterio venous fistulae for haemodialysis in end stage renal failure

A well- functioning arterio venous fistula (AVF) is an essential need in patients with End Stage Renal Failure (ESRF). However, due to the lack of suitable veins and central venous stenosis, this may not be always possible in the upper limb. We present a case series of 10 such patients who underwent thigh arterio venous fistulae (TAVF). The initial success rate of such TAVF in this series is 71.4%. We believe that this is an acceptable result in this cohort of patients and also better than having a tunnelled line or a synthetic graft which can be associated with higher rates of infection.