Cardiovascular and interventional radiology
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Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol · Apr 2018
Adult 'PICC' Device May be Used as a Tunnelled Central Venous Catheter in Children.
Central venous access in children, in particular small children and infants, is challenging. We have developed a technique employing adult peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICCs) as tunnelled central venous catheters (TCVCs) in children. The principal advantage of this novel technique is that the removal technique is less complex than that of conventional cuffed TCVCs. The catheter can be removed simply by being pulled out and does not require general anaesthesia. The purpose of this study is to determine the success, safety and utility of this technique and to identify the rate of late complications. We describe the 6-year experience in our unit. ⋯ Using a PICC device as a TCVC in small children appears to be a safe technique, with an acceptable complication profile.