Abstract
The effects of the specially-programmed exercise load on the AVF growth was investigated in 19 (16 males and 3 females) hemodialysis (HD) patients (66±12 [SD] years old). They had been created the new AVF for initiation of maintenance HD. They were randomly subdivided into the following groups; Group I was composed of 10 patients who underwent a traditional exercise of squeezing a ball, and Group II was composed of 9 patients who were trained with a specially-programmed exercise using a sphygmomanometer, by increasing pressure to the level of 10mmHg above their systolic blood pressure for 30 seconds, and they were asked to squeeze a ball for a designated number of times, 3 times a day. The exercise duration of each group was 4 months. The growth of AVF was evaluated by calculating the lumen area at the venous side of 4cm proximal to the anastomosis site of AVF by using Doppler ultrasonography before, 2 months and 4 months after starting the exercise treatment, and the data were compared between groups at each time. There was a significant difference in the growth rate of increasing area of the venous side of AVF between groups at the 2 nd month, being 134.7±26.1% in Group I and 206.6±86.6% in Group II (p<0.05). It is, thus, concluded that the specially-programmed exercise load by using sphygmomanometer is effective in the earlier achievement of adequate AVF growth for HD.
