Hemodialysis Catheter

This randomized, single-center, PROBE trial evaluates whether adding low-dose apixaban (2.5 mg orally every 12 hours) to standard intraluminal heparin lock prolongs primary functional patency of tunneled hemodialysis catheters compared with standard heparin lock alone. Adult patients on hemodialysis with a recently implanted, functioning tunneled catheter (≥8 days) will be randomized 1:1 and followed up to 24 months (or until catheter loss). Primary outcome is time to first intervention for catheter dysfunction or definitive catheter loss. Secondary outcomes include primary-assisted and secondary patency, thrombotic dysfunction, rescue procedures, catheter-related infection, bleeding (ISTH), and mortality. Outcomes adjudication will be blinded.

This study will be conducted to evaluate the effect of Arterio-Venous Fistula (AVF) care training given to hamodialysis patients on quality of life, comfort and self-care behaviours. Patient education is one of the practices that help patients to gain self-care behaviours as well as reducing the cost of health expenditures. Nurses are health professionals who play an important role in patient education. Nurses provide patient education by using different materials. These materials can sometimes be mobile phones, videos, web-based applications, sometimes face-to-face interviews with patients, brochures or written materials. In this study, a training programme for AVF care will be developed. In addition, it is expected that the AVF care training to be given to HD patients will increase the quality of life and comfort areas, and increase the awareness and well-being levels of patients in self-care behaviours. The effectiveness of the study will be expanded by presenting the results of the research as a paper in an international comprehensive congress. An article of the study will be published in a journal scanned in international indexes and will be included in the literature.