Who is a Candidate?


If your doctor suspects you may have narrowing (stenosis) or blockage in your fistula, they may recommend you undergo a fistulogram to take a closer look. You may have a fistula for dialysis if you have one of the following conditions:

What to Expect


Prior to the procedure, your specialist may advise you to stop taking aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), or blood thinners for some period of time. A fistulogram is an outpatient procedure (doesn’t require an overnight stay in the hospital) that uses local anesthesia (numbing only the immediate area of the fistula so you won’t feel pain). Lying on your back, your interventional radiologist feeds a thin, flexible tube (catheter) through your dialysis fistula and injects contrast dye through the catheter. The dye creates a more detailed image of your fistula.

Your health care team reviews the X-ray images from the fistulogram to look for narrowing or blockages. If a blockage is found, they may perform a fistuloplasty. In this procedure, your interventional radiologist inserts a catheter with a deflated balloon into the fistula and to the blockage location. Once in position, the balloon is gently inflated and deflated — perhaps multiple times — until the blockage is cleared.

You may or may not have stitches to close the incision after the procedure, but you will have a bandage and dressing over the area to protect it while it heals. The entire procedure typically only takes about 30 to 45 minutes. You can resume your normal activities right after the procedure.