Dialysis needle puncture of Wallgrafts placed in polytetrafluoroethylene hemodialysis grafts.

This study evaluates the effect of routine venipuncture at hemodialysis on the durability of Wallgraft covered stents. Thirteen covered stents were placed in six aging, failing polytetrafluoroethylene grafts for treatment of pseudoaneurysms and recurrent stenoses. Four patients did not experience significant graft complications. One graft was ligated for an infected overlying skin ulcer. After surgical revision, the graft remains functional. Another patient experienced fraying of the stent edges and recurrence of a small pseudoaneurysm. Our experience suggests that the Wallgraft covered stent can withstand routine venipuncture at dialysis without flow-limiting stent distortion.