Objective To evaluate the success rate and potency rate of functional and traditional end-to-side anastomosis for radial artery-cephalic vein arteriovenous fistula in hemodialysis patients, so as to summarize our experience and to improve the operation outcomes.Methods Totally 124 patients with chronic renal failure receiving radial artery-cephalic vein arteriovenous shunt for hemodialysis were randomly divided into 2 groups, namely, the functional end-side anastomosis and the traditional end-side anastomosis. The successful rate and year patency rate of the two methods were compared and analyzed.Results The mean operation time periods for functional and traditional end-side anastomosis were (20.4±5.6) min and (26.2±5.2) min, respectively(P<0.05) . The 1-month, 6-month, and 12-month patency rates were 93.6%, 87.3%, and 76.2%, in the functional end-side anastomosis group, and 95.1% (P>0.05), 82.0%(P>0.05) ,72.1%(P>0.05) in the traditional end-side anastomosis group, respectively, with no significant differences found in the three rates between the two groups.Conclusion The short-term and long-term patency rates are similar between hemodialysis patients undergoing functional and traditional end-to-side anastomosis for radial artery-cephalic vein arteriovenous fistula. The functional end-side anastomosis is more convenient and needs a shorter time, and it also makes it easy for a second surgical exploration.