PURPOSE: 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<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.