title: Balloon angioplasty versus surgical revision for thrombosed dialysis graft outlet stenosis after graft thrombectomy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is important to correct underlying graft outlet stenosis after thrombectomy of dialysis grafts. This study retrospectively reviewed patients who received dialysis graft thrombectomy at this institution to compare the effectiveness of 2 different methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 289 dialysis graft thrombectomy procedures performed during 2001-2003 were retrospectively reviewed. The results of 163 cases in balloon angioplasty group were compared with those of 129 patients who underwent outlet revision. Patient characteristics between the 2 groups were similar with regard to demographic characteristics and comorbidities (P > .05). The mean primary patency of balloon and revision groups are 7.23 +/- 7.38 and 8.35 +/- 9.53 (months), respectively. Survival curves for each group were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method. There was no difference between 2 groups regarding graft patency.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The result of dialysis graft outlet balloon angioplasty was comparable to that of surgical revision. Considering the invasiveness, balloon angioplasty should be considered when treating thrombosed dialysis grafts.
authors.affiliation: Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tsung-Chi
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Yun-Hen
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ming-Ju
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Yen-Ni
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Hung-Chang
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Po-Jen
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Ko
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012086:Reoperation; D019233:Retreatment; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D017131:Thrombectomy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014654:Vascular Patency