Abstract: Vascular access for hemodialysis patients includes arteriovenous fistula (AVF), arteriovenous graft (AVG) and central venous catheter (CVC), but all the vascular access methods have the problem of dysfunction. The mechanism of blood access failure is unclear. Animal model can be helpful to understand the causes of vascular access failure. Small animal model has the advantages of easy to use and less expensive, suitable for the molecular study of blood access failure. This review introduces several small animal models as well as the research status and characteristics of the small animal models for the study of blood access failure.

Key words: Vascular access, Small animal model, Hemodialysis, Chronic kidney disease