Can you use a fistula for Slow Nocturnal Home Hemodialysis, or do you need some other device (catheter?)

All of us on the new SNHD program in Geelong, Australia are using fistulas.

Thank you for your response Alan. I am going through the transplant evaluation process now, and if none of my interested donors end up a match for me, I will soon be getting a fistula. How do you ensure that the needle doesn't slip out while you are sleeping? I wondered if you could somehow lock the needle into a catheter. I cannot quite picture how SNHD works with tossing and turning and a fistula! How do you do it?

quote:

Originally posted by Seeking Information:
Thank you for your response Alan. I am going through the transplant evaluation process now, and if none of my interested donors end up a match for me, I will soon be getting a fistula. How do you ensure that the needle doesn't slip out while you are sleeping?
I wondered if you could somehow lock the needle into a catheter.
I cannot quite picture how SNHD works with tossing and turning and a fistula! How do you do it?

Needle is just held in place with a few strips of standard Micropore tape. No problems. Mine is an upper arm fistula but in Geelong we have both upper and lower patients.

I know nothing of catheters and nocturnal. I believe that's what's used in Toronto, Canada.
I had an arthritic hip and that prompted to get the hip replaced before starting nocturnal because I tossed and turned very much too. Since then, no real problems. You learn to slow down. Took me 3 months to sleep properly. (Fairly common I hear.)

Go for it.

Hi:

During my time on nocturnal dialysis. I used both a fistula and catheter. I prefered the catheter; the doctors prefered the fistula.
But in either case, a locking device was used to connect either to the machine.
There may have been some occasional kinking, but nothing like a needle being pulled out.
I�ve written a couple of articles on home hemo in the �Your Words� section of this site. Might be worth a read. Look forward to more conversation.

Best,
Mike

Buttonhole cannulation is an excellent option for hemodialysis patients with native AVF. Medisystems makes ButtonHole Needle Sets specifically designed for using with this cannulation technique. Contact Medisystems at 1-800-369-6334 for more information. Also, see the Clinical Consult column in the April 2002 issue of the ANNA Nephrology Nursing Journal. Buttonhole cannulation will be featured.

I'm confused! In the center I go to they have posters in the waiting room saying the way to preserve your native fistula is to rotate the sites. Wouldn't the buttonhole method shorten the life of my fistula? The vascular surgeon had also said to make sure staff rotates the sites. I'm considering slow nocturnal so am confused as to how it is done without damage to my fistula.