Treatment of Hemodialysis Vascular Access Repeated Stenosis with Paclitaxel-Coated Balloon Angioplasty: A Retrospective Study.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to report our experience of angioplasty with paclitaxel-coated balloon (PCB) versus common balloon (CB) for the treatment of repeated failing vascular access.

Methods: Retrospective, single-center analysis consisting of 88 patients treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in the period from October 2020 through December 2021. Patients were divided into two groups according to the type of treatment as PCB (n = 41) and CB (n = 47). We analyzed target lesion primary patency and vascular access primary patency for 6 months and the rate of complications.

Results: There was no significant difference in the target lesion primary patency which was similar for 6 months between the two groups (PCB group vs. CB group at 1, 3, and 6 months; 95.12 vs. 89.36% (p = 0.55), 75.61 versus 74.47% (p = 0.90), 53.66% versus 63.83% (p = 0.33), respectively). Similarly, vascular access primary patency in the PCB group and CB group was 90.24 and 89.36% (p = 0.83), respectively, at 1 month, 65.85 and 68.09% (p = 0.82), respectively, at 3 months, 39.02 and 53.19% (p = 0.18), respectively, at 6 months. There were no major complications after endovascular treatment.

Conclusion: Compared to CB angioplasty, PCB angioplasty has no short-term patency benefit in the treatment of vascular access repeated stenosis.