Access

Practice Point

Nature Reviews Nephrology 3, 416–417 (1 August 2007) | doi:10.1038/ncpneph0543

Age as a factor in the decision to refer patients with chronic kidney disease for vascular access creation

Rajiv Saran & Kalyani Mehta

O'Hare AM et al. (2007) When to refer patients with chronic kidney disease for vascular access surgery: should age be a consideration? Kidney Int 71: 555–561 Synopsis Background Difficulty in predicting when patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) will require dialysis means that guidelines generally specify a threshold level of renal function that should prompt referral for access creation. Objective To ascertain whether age should be taken into consideration when referring patients with CKD for vascular access creation.