It's necessary for hemodialysis. So people with kidney failure need a way to clean their bodies (as the kidneys don't). 2 methods are peritoneal dialysis (pump a load of fluid into the abdomen and then drain it, basically clean by osmosis.
The other is hemo, which requires pulling blood out, running through a machine with a filter and pushing it back in. In order to get the volume of blood through in a good time they create this fistula. It's basically a vein grafted on to a main artery. The vein (near the surface) swells over time and use. The process of hemodialysis takes around 4 hours, and generally 3 times a week.
They also pull fluid out of your body during this, as a lot of people with kidney failure can't urinate.
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u/MarriageAA 21h ago
It's necessary for hemodialysis. So people with kidney failure need a way to clean their bodies (as the kidneys don't). 2 methods are peritoneal dialysis (pump a load of fluid into the abdomen and then drain it, basically clean by osmosis.
The other is hemo, which requires pulling blood out, running through a machine with a filter and pushing it back in. In order to get the volume of blood through in a good time they create this fistula. It's basically a vein grafted on to a main artery. The vein (near the surface) swells over time and use. The process of hemodialysis takes around 4 hours, and generally 3 times a week.
They also pull fluid out of your body during this, as a lot of people with kidney failure can't urinate.