OBJECTIVES: Approximately 80% of US hemodialysis patients initiate dialysis with a central venous catheter (CVC) despite their high incidence of infections compared to other vascular access modalities (USRDS 2011). Early cannulation arteriovenous grafts (ecAVGs) can be cannulated within 24 hours of implantation thus minimizing the dependency on CVCs compared to non-ecAVGs. We compare CVC sepsis costs for patients implanted with ecAVGs to those with non-ecAVGs. METHODS: An economic model was estimated using the GORE® ACUSEAL Vascular Graft (GAVG) Clinical Study (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01173718), clinical literature, and publicly available cost sources. The GAVG study was a prospective, multi-center, single-arm study to establish the safety and efficacy of the GAVG for use in hemodialysis access. The study collected data on the first three consecutive hemodialysis sessions, which is a surrogate endpoint for time to potential CVC removal. The median days to potential CVC removal was 15.5 compared to an average of 34 days for non-ecAVGs from Quinn (2009) and Shingarev et al. (2011). CVC sepsis rates of 2.32 per patient-year were obtained from the US Renal Data System (2011). The CVC sepsis hospitalization cost was calculated as $27,088 (2014 dollars) from HCUP NIS (2010). RESULTS: Assuming 100 patients in each group, the ecAVG group was estimated to have 9.9 CVC sepsis episodes compared to 21.6 in the non-ecAVG group, with estimated sepsis hospitalization costs of $268,171 versus $585,100, respectively, due to the extended time on the CVC. The ecAVG potentially reduces CVC sepsis episodes by 11.7 since it reduces the number of catheter-dependent days by 18.5 compared to the non-ecAVG. On a per patient basis, the estimated average CVC sepsis costs in the ecAVG group were $2,682/patient versus $5,851/patient in the non-ecAVG group, resulting in a cost savings of $3,189/patient. CONCLUSIONS: It is estimated ecAVGs reduce overall CVC sepsis costs compared to non-ecAVGs due to fewer CVC-dependent days.