Table 1.

Summary of absolute risks of death from all causes, major cardiovascular events, and fatal infections associated with dialysis vascular access types

Reference Annual Event Riska	Vascular Access Comparison	Meta-Analytical RR (95% CI)	Heterogeneity (I2; P Value)	Number of Additional Events per 1000 Patients Exposed per Year (95% CI)
All-cause mortality
0.20 for fistula users	Catheter versus fistula	1.53 (1.40–1.67)	83.9%; <0.01	106 (80–134) excess with catheter
0.24 for graft users	Catheter versus graft	1.38 (1.25–1.52)	86.2%; <0.01	91 (60–125) excess with catheter
0.20 for fistula users	Graft versus fistula	1.18 (1.09–1.27)	82.1%; <0.01	36 (18–54) excess with graft
Major cardiovascular events
0.10 for fistula users	Catheter versus fistula	1.38 (1.24–1.54)	0%; 0.47	38 (24–54) excess with catheter
0.11 for graft users	Catheter versus graft	1.26 (1.11–1.43)	0%; 0.57	28 (12–46) excess with catheter
0.10 for fistula users	Graft versus fistula	1.07 (0.95–1.21)	0%; 0.52	7 (−5–21)b excess with graft
Fatal infections
0.03 for fistula users	Catheter versus fistula	2.12 (1.79–2.52)	0%; 0.82	28 (20–38) excess with catheter
0.04 for graft users	Catheter versus graft	1.49 (1.15–1.93)	0%; 0.23	17 (5–32) excess with catheter
0.03 for fistula users	Graft versus fistula	1.36 (1.17–1.58)	0%; 0.78	9 (4–15) excess with graft

^aOutcome measure includes all-cause mortality, fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular events, and fatal infection events as defined in each study, with RRs obtained from the meta-analysis. Reference risks are from the United States Renal Data System.¹

^bThe 95% CI includes negative numbers, indicating that the superiority of graft versus fistula for cardiovascular events is uncertain (the 95% CI ranges between 5 fewer events and 21 in excess with grafts).