Alexandros Mallios (Paris, France) and Robert Shahverdyan (Hamburg, Germany) talk to Vascular News about some of the benefits of the Ellipsys™ Vascular Access System (Medtronic), how it compares to more traditional fistula creation techniques, and the key steps for achieving EndoAVF success with the system.
“What I love about Ellipsys is that the procedure is very easy and you can create a very durable arteriovenous (AV) fistula in a short time and with good results,” says Shahverdyan. Mallios outlines that the device is “very simple [to use] and efficacious”. The steps taken when using Ellipsys are “very repetitive” and thus provide a greater consistency in outcomes than those seen with surgically created fistulas, states Mallios, adding that surgery leads to “fairly variable results”. Using Ellipsys can help “minimise these differences so that you get very similar results each time”. Another major advantage of the procedure is that it is “almost painless for patients” and is associated with “better long-term flow results”, he adds.
Shahverdyan and Mallios further compare EndoAVF procedures with traditional surgical techniques, with Shahverdyan noting that the former offers “significantly shorter procedure time with practically no adverse events”. Understanding the anatomy of the patient is “crucial” in order to plan the procedure as well as how to cannulate the fistula, he adds. He also discusses the fistula flow rates obtained with the Ellipsys system and how best to optimise the procedure so that other physicians can “get the great results that we have had”.
This video is sponsored by Medtronic.
