Manatee Memorial Hospital offers new, non-surgical procedure for dialysis patients
Dr. Jenna Kazil of Bradenton’s Florida Surgical Clinic recently performed a new, non-surgical procedure to prepare patients for dialysis at Manatee Memorial Hospital’s cath lab.
The procedure, performed using the WavelinQ 4 French (4F) EndoAVF System (WavelinQ), was the first of its kind done on Florida’s west coast.
The system uses two small catheters, inserted into an artery and a vein, that are pulled together with magnets. Radiofrequency energy fuses a connection, called a fistula, that can be used for dialysis access.
Before this technology, three traditional methods of treatment existed: insertion of an external catheter near the heart; connecting an artificial tube, or shunt, between the artery and vein; and connecting an artery and vein directly via open surgery.
The new procedure can be done much sooner than open surgery, and patients have less pain, numbness, and weakness, Kazil said.
Other pluses: patients don’t develop aneurysms of the access and don’t need anesthesia to have the procedure, she said.
Developed by BD Bard, the new procedure marks the first major advancement in fistula creation in the last 50 years. A fistula provides for access to the blood stream so that blood may be removed from the body, cleansed in a hemodialysis machine and returned to the body for patients experiencing kidney failure, Manatee Memorial Hospital said in a press release.
“When we learned about the WavelinQ, we immediately wanted to offer this procedure to our community’s kidney dialysis patients. Manatee Memorial Hospital is proud to be the first hospital to offer this less invasive and non-surgical procedure in the area,” said Kevin DiLallo, CEO of Manatee Memorial Hospital.
In addition to Dr. Jenna Kazil, Dr. Howard Hermans will be performing this outpatient, non-surgical procedure at the hospital.
For more information on Manatee Memorial Hospital, visit www.manateememorial.com.
Florida Surgical Clinic is located at 701 Manatee Ave. W., Suite 105, in Bradenton. For more information, visit https://floridasurgicalclinic.com.
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
