Background: Very limited therapeutic strategies exist to prevent the primary failure of arteriovenous (AV) fistulas in patients with diabetes.
Objectives: To investigate whether rosuvastatin could improve the primary patency of AV fistulas in diabetic patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Methods: This was a double-blind randomized clinical trial. From July 2012 to September 2018, patients aged between 18 and 65 years with type 2 diabetes and stage 5 CKDwere randomized to receive placebo or rosuvastatin (5 mg/day) for 7 days prior to the creation of an AV fistula on the forearm until the 21st day after surgery. Patients were followed up for 180 days after the operation. The primary composite endpointwas the development of fistula immaturity or stenosis. The secondary endpoints were changes in inflammatory markers, oxidative stress, and occurrence of postoperative complications.
Results: A total of 60 patientswere enrolled in the study. Rosuvastatin resulted in a 20% reduction in total cholesterol from postoperative day 0 to 28 (p = .0006). The overall rate of AV fistula failure (immaturity or stenosis) was 30%, with no significant difference between patients receiving rosuvastatin and those receiving the placebo (33.3% vs. 26.7%, p = .5731). Although not statistically significant, the administration of rosuvastatinmight have increased the incidence of postoperative complications (2.99 vs. 2.39 event rate per 1000 patient-days; odds ratio, 1.33; p = .5986).
Conclusions: Rosuvastatin showed no significant beneficial effects on the primary patency of AV fistulas in diabetic patients with stage 5 CKD, but might have been associated with the risk of drug-related complications.