We have a patient that has a femoral fistula. This patient has had years of vascular access lines and this is one of her last resorts for vascular access as she ends up septic from her line infections. She receives electrolytes weekly. We have been accessing the femoral fistula with 20 gauge catheters and infusing her electrolytes thru this since Jan. I have written a policy on it using our current dialysis policy but can not find any articles or references on using an IV catheter to access a fistula. If anyone know of any articles to support this practice, could you please send them my way. I would really appreciate it.
I asked a seasoned Dialysis nurse your question and he advised that a standard 1” dialysis needled creates less damage than an IV catheter as is does not thread as far into the AVF. Minimizing long term damage is obviously a priority. He did not know of a reference for non-emergent access.
Nancy Rose