Use of vascular closure staples in vascular access for dialysis, kidney and pancreas transplantation.

We report our experience with the use of the vascular closure staples (VCS) in vascular access for dialysis, as well as in kidney and pancreas transplantation. We used the VCS for 50 endogenous arterio-venous fistulas (AVFs). There were no complications. The use of the VCS contributed in creating an excellent anastomosis and minimising operative time. All AVFs are in use for dialysis (follow up two months to one year). The excellent results from our experience with the use of VCS for vascular access encouraged us to use them in kidney and pancreas transplantation. We performed six cadaveric kidney transplants (the first operation was the first application of the VCS in kidney transplantation in Europe) and two cadaveric pancreas-kidney transplants (the first operation being the first application of the VCS in pancreas transplantation in the world). There were no complications. The use of VCS created an excellent anastomosis and minimised warm ischaemia time. All kidney transplant recipients have normal creatinines (follow up 1-5 months) and the recipients of pancreatic transplants are insulin independent (follow up 1-3 months).