Coronal Mode Ultrasound Guided Hemodialysis Cannulation: Comparison With Standard Cannulation Technique

Infiltrations from cannulation difficulties result in significant morbidity including loss of vascular access (VA) loss in hemodialysis (HD). Cannulation is reliant on personnel skill and VA characteristics. Surface marking of VA lacks real-time information and traditional ultrasound (US) devices are large, expensive and require skilled operator expertise. Sonic Window© (Analogic Ultrasound, Peabody, MA) is a coronal mode ultrasound device (CMUD) approved for VA cannulation. Study is a single center randomized, prospective pilot study comparing handheld US-guided cannulation of new arteriovenous fistula (AVF) to standard cannulation practices.