BREAKAGE OF TUNNELLED CENTRAL VENOUS CATHETERS: FREQUENCY AND REPAIR KIT OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS RECEIVING HOME PARENTAL NUTRITION (HPN)

Abstract

Complications of tunnelled central venous catheters (CVCs) range from inconvenient to life threatening. Breakages of the external portion can be repaired using a catheter specific repair kit which, when feasible, is preferable to changing the line. Breakage of the external portion is reported to be common but few studies have documented the use of and efficacy of repair kits. At Glasgow Royal Infirmary we recently changed from using 9.6Fr Hickman lines © to 6.6Fr Broviac lines © and thought the repair kits were less efficacious. We carried out this study to assess the frequency of breakages as a complication of tunnelled CVCs and repair kit outcomes in our cohort of HPN patients. A database ..