Vascular accesses for hemodialysis in Ceará-Brazil

Backgroung: the ideal access for hemodialysis is represented by arteriovenous fistulas both as initial access and in use and are determinants of health care parameters for chronic renal patients. Objective: to evaluate vascular access for hemodialysis. Methods: this is a cross-sectional study, with a sample of 2513 individuals on hemodialysis in Ceará. Data were collected on age, sex, time of treatment, underlying disease, initial access and access in use. The data were divided into two groups, the interior of the state and the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza, in the State of Ceará, and compared using the Student’s Test (p<0.05). Results: the most common age group was between 19 and 64 years (73%). Men prevailed in both regions, 713 (63%) in the countryside and 792 (57%) in the metropolitan area. The most common cause of Chronic Kidney Disease was Hypertension 306 (27%), followed by Disease of undetermined cause 295 (26%) in the countryside; in the metropolitan region, Diabetes Mellitus 356 (26%) was the main cause, followed by Hypertension and Disease of undetermined cause, each with 344 (25%), p=0.001. In the countryside, 9% started treatment for fistula while in the metropolitan area 12%, p=0.011. 79% of patients in the countryside used fistulas and 81% in the metropolitan area, p=0.156. Conclusion: arteriovenous fistulas are more frequent as initial accesses in the metropolitan region than in the interior, but there is an equivalence of fistulas in use in both regions. Catheter is the main initial access route. The evaluation of vascular accesses in Ceará showed that hemodialysis services are able to maintain good parameters of care for patients with chronic kidney disease.