Effects of far infrared therapy on arteriovenous fistulas in hemodialysis patients: a meta-analysis

Background: Far infrared (FIR) therapy may have a beneficial effect on maturity and function of arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Therefore, we performed this pooled analysis to assess the protective effects of FIR therapy in HD patients. Methods: The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs of FIR therapy for HD patients were searched from multiple databases. Relevant studies were screened according to the predefined inclusion criteria. The meta-analyses were performed using RevMan 5.2 software (The Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford, UK). Results: Meta-analysis showed that FIR therapy could significantly increase the vascular access blood flow level (MD, 81.69ml/min; 95% Cl, 46.17-117.21; p < .001), AVFs diameter level (MD, 0.36mm; 95% Cl, 0.22-0.51; p <.001), and the primary AVFs patency (pooled risk ratio = 1.24; 95% Cl, 1.12-1.37, p < .001). In addition, therapy with FIR ray radiation could decrease AVFs occlusion rates (pooled risk ratio = 0.20; 95% Cl, 0.08-0.46; p <.001) and the level of needling pain (pooled risk ratio = 0.08; 95% Cl, 0.06-0.10, p < .001). Conclusions: FIR therapy can reduce AVFs occlusion rates and needling pain level, while significantly improve the level of vascular access blood flow, AVFs diameter and the primary AVFs patency.