Effective treatment of dialysis patients requires high quality vascular access and utmost care regarding placement and maintenance. In order to achieve the best possible results even under difficult conditions an active and continuous communication between and within all involved specialties is essential.

Taking advantage of the excellent cooperation of the Department of Medicine II (general internal medicine and nephrology) with the Department of Vascular Surgery and the Department of Diagnostical Radiology, the University Hospital of Cologne established a multidisciplinary Center for Dialysis Vascular Access. In Germany this is the first university center of its kind.

We offer state-of-the-art nephrological treatment in combination with outstanding surgical skills and brilliant radiological diagnostics in a single center focused on the patients’ benefit.

We have expertise in a wide variety of services at the highest level, including:

• Sonographic and angiographic diagnostics of any kind of native and graft arteriovenous fistulas
• Placement of dialysis AV/graft-fistulas
• Planning and realisation of a dialysis access, also under difficult vascular conditions and after previous surgeries and interventions with native (autologous) and synthetic grafts
• Corrective surgery after complications with the AV-/graft-fistula
• Angiographic diagnostics and intervention based treatment of stenoses of the central vein system, the fistula/anastomosis and of the arterial system
• Placement and removal of (tunnelled) dialysis catheters
• Emergency care of all fistula/graft-complications like stenosis and occlusion, bleeding and infection
• For the preservation of vascular access and dialysis quality we provide our supply 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

German version