title: Early cannulation of the Flixene™ arteriovenous graft.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this review was to search for evidence of the efficiency of early cannulation of the Flixene™ (Maquet-Atrium Medical, Hudson, NH, USA) arteriovenous graft (AVG) in the current literature and to assess its patency and complication rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Searches in Pubmed, Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library were performed using the following specific search terms: early cannulation AVG and/or Flixene™ graft. The primary outcomes were mean time to first cannulation and patency rates at 12 months. Secondary outcomes were complications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six studies reporting outcomes in a total of 260 procedures were included in this review. The median delay from intervention to first cannulation was documented in four studies and was less than 3 days. Primary assisted patency at 12 months ranged from 45% to 53% in the four documented series. In five studies, documented secondary patency at 12 months ranged from 63% to 92%. Two studies compared outcomes between traditional and Flixene™ grafts: one study reported significantly (p&lt;0.01) improved one-year patency using the Flixene™ graft, the two studies did not report significant differences in complication rates between both groups. The rate of infection and pseudo-aneurysm formation ranged from 0 to 11% and 0 to 6%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This review shows that early cannulation of the Flixene™ graft within 3 days following its implantation is feasible with one-year patency and complication rates equivalent to those of conventional grafts which can be cannulated only after 2 weeks.
authors.affiliation: Vascular Surgery Department, CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux - France.|University of Bordeaux, Faculty of Medicine, Bordeaux - France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ottaviani
authors.affiliation: Vascular Surgery Department, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne - Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deglise
authors.affiliation: Vascular Surgery Department, CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux - France.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brizzi
authors.affiliation: Vascular Surgery Department, CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux - France.|University of Bordeaux, Faculty of Medicine, Bordeaux - France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ducasse
authors.affiliation: Vascular Surgery Department, CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux - France.|University of Bordeaux, Faculty of Medicine, Bordeaux - France.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Midy
authors.affiliation: University of Bordeaux, Faculty of Medicine, Bordeaux - France.|Nephrology Department, CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux - France.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rigothier
authors.affiliation: Vascular Surgery Department, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne - Switzerland.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Saucy
authors.affiliation: Vascular Surgery Department, CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux - France.|University of Bordeaux, Faculty of Medicine, Bordeaux - France.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Berard
mesh_terms: D001166:Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002404:Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D011677:Punctures; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D061665:Time-to-Treatment; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014654:Vascular Patency