Endoshunts

The increasing incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in the aging population has led to an increased need for hemodialysis in recent years, without significantly changing the number of patients receiving other types of kidney replacement therapy such as peritoneal dialysis or kidney transplantation. Reliable and permanent vascular access is therefore essential for patient care in order to ensure consistent treatment, to avoid access complications, such as additional procedures and hospitalizations, to reduce health costs and ultimately improve the quality of life of dialysis patients. The endovascular arteriovenous fistulae (endoAVF) were introduced in approximately 2018. This was therefore an extraordinary milestone to be able to create a dialysis access without making an incision. This chapter describes the existing endoAVF systems and provides an overview of the literature.