Scholz SS, et al. - Researchers performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of peer-reviewed studies to determine the changes in systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressure levels consequent to arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation for initiation of hemodialysis in patients with end-stage renal disease. They searched PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library for data extraction, and used the PRISMA, PRISMA-P (PRISMA for systematic review protocols), and ROBINS-I (Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies) criteria. They excluded studies in which the results could have been biased by hemodialysis, and analyzed 14 trials that included 412 patients with end-stage renal disease (AVF creation, n=185; AVF ligation, n=227). They noted a remarkable reduction in blood pressure due to AVF creation, whereas ligation led to an increase in blood pressure.