Handgrip Exercise for Arteriovenous Fistula Maturation

The arteriovenous fistula is considered to be the gold standard form of access for haemodialysis patients, however only 37% of haemodialysis patients have this form of access. A possible explanation for this could be the high fistula failure rate due to the lack of maturation. Therefore interventions aimed at enhancing fistula maturation are warranted. One such intervention could be forearm exercise, however this recommendation is not evidence based. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether a program of post operative progressive hand grip exercise can improve fistula maturation.