Despite the effort to increase the proportion of patients starting dialysis on native accesses, many of them are still dialyzed on tunnelled catheter. Catheter-related complications are often serious and responsible for re-hospital admission, high morbidity and mortality. Several multicenter trials have reported results in the use of tunnelled dialysis catheter (TDC). However, few single-center studies have been published to verify the outcome from real-world experience. This study presents our center's experience in managing such patients in the context of relevant literature.

Demographics and operative data were retrospectively collected from medical charts. A prospective follow-up was performed to investigate complications, number of re-hospitalizations and mortality. Kaplan-Meier estimate was used to evaluate catheter primary patency and patients’ overall survival.

Among a total 298 haemodialysis accesses interventions, 105 patients (56 men, 53.3% and 49 women, 46.7%) with a median age of 65 years (range 32–88 years) were included in the study. All insertions were successful with an optimal blood flow achieved during the first session of dialysis in all cases. A catheter-related complication was detected in 33.3% (n=35) patients (48.6% infections; 28.6% TDC dysfunction; 14.3% local complications; 5.7% accidental catheter retractions; 2.8% catheter migrations). At a median follow-up of 10.5±8.5 months, a total of 85 patients (80.9%) was re-hospitalized, in 28 cases (26.7%) for a catheter-related cause. The median catheter patency rate was 122 days. At the last follow-up, 39 patients (37.1%) were still dialyzed on catheter, 30(28.6%) were dialyzed on an arteriovenous fistula and 7(6.7%) received a kidney transplantation. Two patients (2%) were transferred to peritoneal dialysis and two patients (2%) recover from renal insufficiency. Mortality rate was 23.8% (25 patients). Causes of death were myocardial infarction (n=13, 52%), sepsis (n=9, 36%); one patient (4%) died from pneumonia, one (4%) from uremic encephalopathy and one (4%) from massive hematemesis.

TDCs may represent the only possible access in some patients, however they are burned with a high rate of complications, re-hospital admission and mortality. Results from this institutional experience are in line with previously published literature data in terms of morbidity and mortality. The present results reiterate once more that TDC must be regarded as a temporary solution while permanent access creation should be prioritized. Strict surveillance should be held in patients having TDC for the early identification of complications allowing the prompt treatment and modifying the catheter insertion site whenever needed.