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FOOTHILLS DIALYSIS ACCESS CENTER

The First Center in the Region Leads a National Trend in Dialysis Care

By Randal P. Bast, M.D., and Peter N. Purcell, M.D., FACS, FACPh.

Renal failure is a condition in which the kidneys are no longer able to filter metabolic waste products from the body. Common causes of renal failure include high blood pressure and diabetes. Most patients with renal failure are on hemodialysis— a process in which blood is drawn from the body through a man-made blood vessel called a fistula, circulated through a filtering machine, and returned to the body. Vascular access surgeons help provide and maintain the means through which the patient is attached to the filtering machine—their dialysis access.

If a fistula develops a problem—clotting, narrowing, or bleeding, for instance—the kidney machine cannot dialyze the blood properly and illness and even death can result. Fortunately, a malfunctioning fistula can usually be repaired fairly easily, often using endovascular methods—methods of repairing a blood vessel through a needle stick rather than an incision—but it is important that the problem be fixed quickly before the patient gets sick.

On October 16, the Foothills Dialysis Access Center (FDAC), the fi rst dedicated dialysis access center in the region, opened to serve patients in western North Carolina who require kidney hemodialysis. The FDAC was developed by Caldwell Memorial Hospital with the surgeons and nephrologists (kidney specialists) of the region to allow patients to have their dialysis fistulas repaired quickly— often in the same day.

Physicians performing dialysis access procedures at the Foothills Dialysis Access Center are Randal P. Bast, M.D., Thomas A. Pezzi, M.D., and Peter N. Purcell, M.D., FACS, FACPh.