An arteriovenous fistula or 'fistula' is the preferred method of achieving long term dialysis access. A fistula is a surgically created connection between an artery and vein, typically in the arm. Once the connection between the artery and vein is created the large amount of blood needed for dialysis is able to flow directly from the artery into the vein causing the vein to enlarge over several weeks. When the vein has enlarged sufficiently, or matured, it is able to be used for dialysis. This typically takes from 6 to 12 weeks. During dialysis sessions two needles are placed into the enlarged vein, one to take blood to the dialysis machine and one to inject the cleaned, dialyzed blood back into the body.
