I returned from the home Hemo/PD/Peds dialysis meeting. At the meeting a new Nephrology Society was formed: The American Society of Diagnostic and Interventional Nephrology. This society will help promote the education of Nephrologists that perform vascular access interventional procedures (fistulagrams/angioplasty/catheter placements). The group may expand to allow RN, LPN, PCT that have an interest in vascular access placement, care and use. Many vascular access issues such as monitoring for stenosis, proper cannulation techniques, proper catheter care (treatment for poor flow or clotting) and many other issues that effect all members of the ESRD team including the patient could be addressed by this new group.

Please post under this message if you would be interested in such a society. I will forward the post information to the Nephrology leaders that are forming the group. I think vascular access problems are only solved as a team that includes all members of the ESRD team, surgeons, radiologists and patients.

This is our chance to help make a difference! Thanks and please post if you think this would be of interest to you and what areas you think could benefit from educational offerings.
Deborah

[This message has been edited by Deborah Brouwer (edited 07-27-2000).]

I would love to be involved in this. As for educational opportunities, I went to the NKF spring clinical meetings in LA 3 years ago and went to an excellent class taught by a vascular surgeon. He was from the Dallas area and had slides of aneurysms, grafts that were worn out from using the same places, etc. This was very graphic. I would like to see education via video tape that could be shown to individual clinics to get the word out on how to maintain accesses.

Ruth,
Thanks for your interest. Do you have a copy of the Medisystems continuing education video tapes on the Native AV Fistula and AV Graft? The idea is to help educate the local dialysis staff (RN�s, LPN�s and PCT�s). If you don�t have a copy- please call Medisystems 1- 800-887-MEDI and request copies for your unit. WL Gore also has a good video for graft implantation. The slides you saw at the NKF meeting were most likely from Gore. You can contact your local Gore Rep and have an in-service in your unit with the same slide set. It is a very high impact in-service to get staff to better understand site rotation!
The educational piece of AV access must include the routine dialysis treatment care and use- cannulation, needle removal, how to intervene with cannulation problems, fistula cannulation vs. graft cannulation, physical exam and much more. What is done every treatment to the vascular access greatly determines the life of the access. Little to no research has looked at the very basic issue of cannulation. This new group could help move these important issues into research projects.
I will forward all comments under this section to the Nephrologist forming the new Society!
Deborah

Who is starting this new diagnostic and interventional society? and how can I join?

kidneydr@yahoo.com

The group is lead by Dr. Jack Work, Dr. Gerald Bethard, Dr. Charles O'Neil and Dr. Steve Ash. Thanks for your interest.
Deborah

Deb, The slides she is refering to are from Dr. Ken McIntyre. He was living in Galvaston at the time but is now in Dallas. He is a very strong proponent of using native vessals and spoke on this at the recent NKF clinical nephrology meeting in Atlanta. He has stopped using gortex in his patients completly. He is however transposing and replanting vessals to create high flow dialysis access. He always suprises Nurses and Techs when he talks about rounding in the dialysis unit. Yes he really will go see a patient who is having a problem while they are dialyzing.
This new group sounds great. I would like to stay informed on the progress.
Lee