title: Assessment of a two-needle technique for the measurement of recirculation during hemodialysis.
abstract: The definitive measurement of recirculation in a hemodialysis vascular access for hemodialysis requires a peripheral vein blood sample. A two-needle method that avoids this venipuncture by using an "arterial" line sample from the access under low-flow conditions has been recommended. However, this technique has never been assessed in patients with significant levels of recirculation. We compared this low-flow arterial (LFA) technique to the standard method of measuring recirculation in 15 consecutive patients with more than 15% recirculation (mean, 27.6%). We found that recirculation by this two-needle technique averaged 15.2% and that the technique was insufficiently sensitive to be of value in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick 08903-0019.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Levy
mesh_terms: D001132:Arm / Q000098:blood supply*; D001166:Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D006435:Renal Dialysis