Abstract: 【Abstract】Objective To analyze the causes of catheter dysfunction by observation of the appearance and longitudinal section of the temporary catheters removed from maintaining hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Methods The MHD patients using temporary catheters at the beginning of MHD in Department of Nephrology, Jiangmen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital Affiliated to Jinan University from January 2017 to June 2018 were recruited for analyses. We analyzed the cause of catheter dysfunction by observation of the removed temporary catheters about the bending-angle of the main segment, the formation of fibrin sheath and the length of thrombus in the longitudinal section of the catheters. Results A total of 45 patients were available for analyses. The rate of catheter dysfunction was 13.33% (6/45). The bending- angle of the catheter ranged from 5°～44°. The mean bending-angles of the functional catheter group and the dysfunctional catheter group were 13.87±5.42° and 31.67±7.71° respectively (t=-5.449, P=0.002). Blood flow was negatively correlated with age and bending-angle (t=10.027, P＜0.001). The length of venous thrombus was negatively correlated with age and bending-angle (r=0.722, P＜0.001). Conclusion The bending-angle of temporary catheter is an important factor for catheter dysfunction in MHD patients. The larger the bending-angle was, the worse the catheter function was. When the angle is greater than 30 degrees, the possibility of catheter dysfunction increase significantly.

Key words: Temporary catheterr, Catheter dysfunction, Hemodialysis