2022 Volume 55 Issue 3 Pages 209-213
As the number of patients who have difficulty with arteriovenous fistulas is increasing, the use of arteriovenous grafts is rising. Although some reports have suggested that buttonhole puncture is effective for maintaining arteriovenous grafts, it is not recommended due to the risk of infection. We have prepared a buttonhole puncture manual, which recommends the use of dull needles to maintain arteriovenous grafts and limited punctures, and we have not experienced any vascular access infections in the 6 patients with arteriovenous grafts treated at our hospital over the past 7 years. As for puncturing, we measured the number of attempts and the success rate of buttonhole puncture for one month and found that the success rate was 97.9％ and 50％ when ≤10 and ＞10 punctures were performed, respectively. By strictly following the manual, the long‒term maintenance and preservation of arteriovenous grafts was possible.
