Thrombosis
Express Learning Breakout
Alison Acott
medical director, vascular access team
Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System
Nothing to Disclose
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is recognized as a major risk for those patients receiving a midline or peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC). When we place an extended dwell catheter, the last thing we want to do is give the patient a complication such as a DVT. Why do some patients get a DVT and others who would seem to be more likely to get a DVT due to comorbidities, decreased mobility, and fragility of venous access complete their course without incident? In March of 2017 we started tracking all patients with midlines and PICCs inserted at our facility. Over the last two years we have collected data on more than 900 PICCs and 1200 midlines. We looked at factors such as patient age and sex, vessel size, vein used, catheter (size and length) dwell time, patient comorbidities and inserter to determine what factors predispose our patients to DVTs. Are there factors that are predictive of a DVT, and if so can we change our practice in these high risk patients? Is venous decline a predictor of patient mortality? We will review the data and explain our findings.