HemoDoc, From Doctor to Patient

The Genius of Stuart Mott: Solving Buttonhole Infections

By Peter Laird, MD

Buttonhole cannulation is an underutilized resource in the hemodialysis setting that recently has come into further question due to studies showing higher rates of infection than standard cannulation techniques. I have long believed that proper hygiene and disinfection can circumvent this higher infection risk leading me to conclude that it simply may be a failure of infection control techniques rather than a failure with buttonhole methodology itself.  Recently, Stuart Mott addressed these issues and developed a new approach and technique that may prove to be the solution to this problem of higher infection rates with the constant site techniques.

Milestone has been reached in buttonhole infections

1. At the end of June 2012 a milestone was reached with 4 000, cannulation of buttonholes. This projected was started in June of 2009 with just two patients and a lot of doters noted at the time. In January of 2010 two more patients where add as a resulted of the first two. No infections and buttonhole integrity remained in tactated.The use of shower scrubbers were initially used but in the summer of 2010 while getting more shower scrubbers at the local Wal-Mart I notice the exfoliating facial buffs. When first trying them out I notice a result that was far better than the shower scrubbers. Faster cleaning and better cleaning of the buttonhole site. The removal of dead skin as well as the oil around the site leads me to believe that his technique was the way to go. Immedelty after using the exfoliating facial buffers the scab remove became the key to the elimination of the infections problem. All the scab material was removed from the buttonhole site and only in rare occasions was there any scab left. What is left is the buttonhole plug. This is removed by using the pickers that come with the needles. 
2. The use of the technique is as followed.  Non-sterile, clean gloves. Cut the pad in half for longer use. You will notice after 30 to 40 uses the pad becomes compacted, it time to use the other half
3. Place the exfoliating facial pad under hot water for 30 to 45 seconds to warm and moisten the pad prior to applying to skin.
4. Apply one to two drops of antibacterial soap to the pad.  Using your fingers spread the soap around on the pad to provide even distribution of the soap.
5. Using a circular motion, the staff or patient scrubs the buttonhole site/scab in a circular motion using moderate pressure approximately 10-12 times.
6.  using a clean paper towel dry the site and throw the paper towel away , don’t use water to rise the site off.
7. Examine site to determine if all scab material around buttonhole site is removed.
8. If scab material remains in the buttonhole track, remove using a sterile needle that is provided in the needle kit.
9. Betadine will be utilized to cleanse buttonhole site immediately prior to cannulation with fistula needles.

Air dry exfoliating pad during treatment by placing pad on top of the dialysis machine.

The lecturer on this infection of buttonholes is limited with in formation. But with this in mind the lowest reported was 0.16 per thousand cannulation(Doss, Schiller, & Moran, 2008; Marticorena et al., 2006, 2009; van Loon, Goovaerts, Kessels, van der Sande, & Tordoir, 2009; Verhallen, Kooistra, & Van Jaarsveld, 2007).  The Mott method for cleaning buttonholes  use somewhat different approach in that it cleans the whole area and not just the area around the buttonhole.

Since February a multiply content approach using this technique is in play, Australia, Canada and Europe are in different phase of getting this approved. The outcomes will be written about in the next year.

Stuart and his team has achieved an incridible 4000 buttonhole cannulations withour a single infection using this novel technique. Stuart is now engaged in an international, multi-center study to validate his initial observations in a study now commencing. Should the initial results Stuart obtained in his home unit be duplicated with a significant reduction in infections, one of the biggest considerations against using buttonhole cannulation will evaporate.

Buttonhole cannulation in my opinion should be the standard of care using Touch Cannulation to eliminate the variance between multiple cannulators. With these preliminary results, Stuart may single handedly be on course to solve the remaining issues that prevent universal acceptance of constant site cannulation which is known to reduce aneurysm development. The results of this ongoing study will hopefully confirm and promote a standard process for scab removal. With over 4000 infection free scab removals and cannulations, it is certainly a process that demands further study.

DaVita Faces Opposition to Eastern Maine Medical Center Dialysis Sale

By Peter Laird, MD

DaVita and Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) are seeking permission from the Maine regulatory agencies to approve a pending sale of three dialysis centers now run and owned by EMMC. However, they are facing opposition from the nurses unions due to concerns about alleged quality of care issues with DaVita which is currently under investigation by several agencies. The opposing sides met in a public hearing to decide the fate of this sale:

 

The allegations that DaVita places profits ahead of patient care is not helped by their own CEO, Kent Thiry, who has publicly stated that DaVita is not about the patients, it is about the company and their teammates. (go to 109 minutes and 35 seconds on the following video) Since I just became a DaVita patient myself after my DSI unit was bought out over a year ago by DaVita, my impression is that billing and financial accountability are at the heart of their corporate concern for my treatments.  

 

DaVita is so obsessed with billing for my home dialysis sessions that they have given me a fax machine so that my nurse can do daily reports to the DaVita corporate headquarters even though Kaiser pays only on a monthly basis. Other than daily billing and the burden of sending off a daily fax, I see absolutely no new benefits from DaVita on my behalf. Instead, I am locked into a relationship now with big brother DaVita reviewing my treatments day by day and their mayor securing each and every billable moment. What part of DaVita's village do I now belong and if it is one for all all for one for the mayor and the teammate citizens, who then is my advocate in this huge corporate megalith?

The DaVita village and its citizens who are "all for one and one for all" don't have any place at all for the patient in their company philosophy. This is the chief failing of DaVita in my opinion, as Bill Peckham pointed out recently, if they are the village and Kent Thiry is the mayor, what does that make us patients?  I would hope that the patients serviced today at EMMC take the opportunity to learn more about DaVita and their aggressive business tactics that in my opinion come at the expense of the patient. Certainly, for anyone that listens to Kent Thiry state clearly that it is not about the patients, you must wonder what it is that motivates Kent and DaVita if it is not about the patient?

Sadly, there is little that the nurses unions or patients can do to prevent the sale of the EMMC dialysis units to DaVita. This is even more imperative since EMMC is the sole dialysis provider for Bangor Maine and the huge rural area it services. Any patinet who is involuntarily discharged from DaVita will have no other alternative treatment options other than emergency room services which for most patients is an inevitable death sentence. The people of Maine have the evidence before them to reject DaVita and seek alternative assistance for their dialysis needs. Whether the government agencies involved will question the integrity of this corporation and what I consider empty DaVita promises will only be known in its own time.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Maine who include my own close relatives who live in this area and could in the future depend on the outcome of these decisions.