Early goal-directed bundle improve outcomes in patients with sepsis
“Sepsis is a disease with high incidence and mortality. Among the interventions of the resuscitation bundle, the early goal-directed therapy (EGDT) is recommended” Wawrzeniak et al (2015). Reference: Wawrzeniak, I.C., Loss, S.H., Moraes, M.C., De La Vega, F.L. and Victorino, J.A. (2015) Could a protocol based on early goal-directed therapy improve outcomes in patients with […]
Italian position paper on artificial nutrition and hydration
“The intent of this position paper was to supply a framework of clinical practices, ethical principles, and professional guidelines that will impart information and can assist decision making regarding AN and hydration” Fatati (2015). Reference: Fatati, G. (2015) Artificial nutrition: technical, scientific and ethical considerations. Recenti Progressi in Medicina. 106(2), p.81-4. [Article in Italian]. Abstract: […]
Complication rates of double-lumen tunnelled central venous catheters
“This manuscript presents the complication rates of double-lumen tunnelled CVCs and their effect on transplantation outcome” Yeral et al (2015). Reference: Yeral, M., Boğa, C., Oğuzkurt, L., Alışkan, H.E., Özdoğu, H. and Demiroğlu, Y.Z. (2015) Tunnelled Central Venous Catheter-Related Problems in the Early Phase of Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Effects on Transplant Outcome. Turkish […]
Effect of teaching medical students intraosseous access skills
“The educational effect of IO access for medical students was tremendous, and the knowledge of and attitude toward IO access improved significantly after the training course” Kwon et al (2014). Reference: Kwon, O.Y., Park, S.Y. and Yoon, T.Y. (2014) Educational effect of intraosseous access for medical students. Korean Journal of Medical Education. 26(2), p.117-24. [ctt […]
Cleaning needleless connectors with an ultraviolet light emitting diode
“We tested the hypothesis that a low-power UV LED could reliably eliminate bacteria on needleless central line ports in a laboratory model of central line contamination” Hutchens et al (2015). Reference: Hutchens, M.P., Drennan, S.L. and Cambronne, E.D. (2015) Calibration of optimal use parameters for an ultraviolet light emitting diode in eliminating bacterial contamination on […]
Type of resuscitation IV fluid for severe sepsis and septic shock?
“Balanced crystalloids in sepsis have been linked indirectly with lower mortality and should be considered as an alternative to unbalanced crystalloids as the initial resuscitation fluid” Owyang and Shah (2015). Reference: Owyang, C.G. and Shah, K.H. (2015) Are Balanced Crystalloids the Preferred Resuscitation Fluid for Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock? Annals of Emergency Medicine. March […]
Skin preparation to prevent contamination of blood for transfusion
“Donor arm skin is one potential source of blood contamination, so it is usual to cleanse the skin with an antiseptic before blood donation. One-step and two-step alcohol based antiseptic regimens are both commonly advocated but there is uncertainty as to which is most effective” Webster et al (2015) Reference: Webster, J., Bell-Syer, S.E. and […]
Patient satisfaction questionnaire for totally-implanted central venous access devices
“This second and final methodological and statistical validation of this auto-questionnaire QASICC allows us to propose it as a dedicated questionnaire to TIVAD’s cancer patients by using a score assessing acceptance and satisfaction regarding their device” Marcy et al (2015). Reference: Marcy, P.Y., Dahlet, C., Brenet, O., Yazbec, G., Dubois, P.Y., Salm, B., Fouche, Y., […]
Efficacy of alcohol-antibiotic lock therapy for CLABSI treatment
“The use of alcohol-antibiotic lock to treat catheter-related bloodstream infections in order to eradicate selected microorganisms that colonize the lumen and cause an infection, is as effective as catheter replacement with a new one” Ławiński et al (2015). Reference: Ławiński, M., Majewska, K., Fołtyn, I. and Gradowska, A. (2015) The Efficacy of Alcohol-Antibiotic Lock Therapy […]
Supraclavicular fossa ultrasound view for central venous catheter placement
“The supraclavicular fossa ultrasound view can be useful for central venous catheter (CVC) placement.” Kim et al (2014). Reference: Kim, S.C., Klebach, C., Heinze, I., Hoeft, A., Baumgarten, G. and Weber, S. (2014) The supraclavicular fossa ultrasound view for central venous catheter placement and catheter change over guidewire. Journal of Visualized Experiments. December 23rd. doi: […]
Case study describes sagittal vein thrombosis caused by central venous catheter
“In this case report, we described clinical and radiological findings in a patient with protein C-S deficiency and malposition of central vein catheter” Sabzi et al (2015). Reference: Sabzi, F., Karim, H., Heydar Pour, B. and Faraji, R. (2015) Sagittal vein thrombosis caused by central vein catheter. Acta Medica Iranica. 53(3), p.191-4. [ctt tweet=”Case study describes […]
Thrombotic complications with lower limb PICCs in surgical neonates
“In the current study, only neonates with abdominal pathology and a lower extremity insertion site suffered major thrombotic complications from PICC lines” Kisa et al (2015). Reference: Kisa, P., Ting, J., Callejas, A., Osiovich, H. and Butterworth, S.A. (2015) Major thrombotic complications with lower limb PICCs in surgical neonates. Journal of Pediatric Surgery. February 19th. […]
How to improve central line associated bloodstream infection rates in neonates
“NICU line infection rates decreased with implementation of CABSI prevention protocols. Despite this implementation, catheters placed in the NICU continued to have higher infection rates.” Freeman et al (2015). Reference: Freeman, J.J., Gadepalli, S.K., Siddiqui, S.M., Jarboe, M.D. and Hirschl, R.B. (2015) Improving central line infection rates in the neonatal intensive care unit: Effect of hospital […]
Defining CLABSI rates: Should you use bed days or device days?
“These findings suggest that device days and bed days are equally effective adjustment metrics for comparing healthcare-associated infection rates between hospitals in the setting of stable device utilization” Horstman et al (2015). Reference: Horstman, M.J., Li, Y.F., Almenoff, P.L., Freyberg, R.W. and Trautner, B.W. (2015) Denominator Doesn’t Matter: Standardizing Healthcare-Associated Infection Rates by Bed Days […]
Improving clinical practice outcomes during central line maintenance procedures
“Central line maintenance (CLM) for intensive care unit (ICU) patients is a task through which error or non-adherence to protocols can cause central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). We conducted an economic analysis of an adherence engineering CLM kit designed to improve the CLM task and reduce the risk of CLABSI” Nelson et al (2015). Reference: […]
Central venous catheter placement in children with thrombocytopenia
“Aim of this study was to report the bleeding risk in pediatric patients with thrombocytopenia who underwent positioning of CVC” Olivieri et al (2015). Reference: Olivieri, C., Crocoli, A., De Pasquale, M.D. and Inserra, A. (2015) Central venous catheter placement in children with thrombocytopenia. Minerva Pediatrica. March 18th. [epub ahead of print]. [ctt tweet=”Central venous […]
Survey of real-time ultrasound during central venous catheter placement
“The purpose of this study was to document the attitudes and practice patterns of pediatric surgeons regarding use of RTUS with CVC placement” Dassinger et al (2015). Reference: Dassinger, M.S., Renaud, E.J., Goldin, A., Huang, E.Y., Russell, R.T., Streck, C.J., Tang, X. and Blakely, M.L. (2015) Use of real-time ultrasound during central venous catheter placement: […]
Surgical treatment of central venous catheter related septic DVT
“The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical features and outcomes of catheter related central venous thrombosis and whether a surgical approach can be an effective treatment…” Kim et al (2015). Reference: Kim, M., Kwon, H., Hong, S.K., Han, Y., Park, H., Choi, J.Y., Kwon, T.W. and Cho, Y.P. (2015) Surgical Treatment of […]
Retrospective evaluation of totally implantable vascular access ports
“Port catheters for chemotherapy are safe and well tolerated with acceptable complication rates” Gurkan et al (2015). Reference: Gurkan, S., Seber, S., Gur, O., Yetisyigit, T., Okan Donbaloglu, M. and Ozkaramanli Gur, D. (2015) Retrospective evaluation of totally implantable venous access port devices: Early and late complications. Journal of B.U.ON. 20(1), p.338-45. [ctt tweet=”Retrospective evaluation […]
Alarm system management and the prevention of alarm fatigue
“Although there are powerful incentives for creating alarm management programmes to reduce ‘alarm fatigue’, they do not provide guidance on how to reduce the likelihood that clinicians will disregard critical alarms” Rayo and Moffatt-Bruce (2015). References: Rayo, M.F. and Moffatt-Bruce, S.D. (2015) Alarm system management: evidence-based guidance encouraging direct measurement of informativeness to improve alarm […]
Intraosseous versus central venous catheter utilization
“We aimed to assess its performance and utilization against landmark-guided central venous catheter placement during inpatient medical emergencies” Lee et al (2015). Reference: Lee, P.M., Lee, C., Rattner, P., Wu, X., Gershengorn, H. and Acquah, S. (2015) Intraosseous Versus Central Venous Catheter Utilization and Performance During Inpatient Medical Emergencies. Critical Care Medicine. March 12th. [epub […]
Percutaneous retrieval of implantable central venous port fragment
“We report a successful endovascular technique using a snare for retrieving broken peripherally inserted venous ports in a child for chemotherapy” Ghaderian et al (2015). Reference: Ghaderian, M., Sabri, M.R. and Ahmadi, A.R. (2015) Percutaneous retrieval of an intracardiac central venous port fragment using snare with triple loops. Journal of Research in Medical Sciences. 20(1), […]
Central venous catheter tip location: Proximity of Cardiac Motion (PCM) method
“In order to find the correct final position of the tip of a central venous catheter, we have developed a new electric method (the Proximity of Cardiac Motion (PCM) method), designed to work in tandem with the existing ECG-based method” Konings et al (2015). Reference: Konings, M.K., Schelven, L.J., Meijer, R.C., Westra, A.H., Snijder, R.A. […]
Review of chest x-ray technique to determine central venous catheter tip location
“…study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of bedside chest X-ray (CXR) for proper positioning of the catheter tip” Salimi et al (2015). Reference: Salimi, F., Hekmatnia, A., Shahabi, J., Keshavarzian, A., Maracy, M.R. and Jazi, A.H. (2015) Evaluation of routine postoperative chest roentgenogram for determination of the correct position of permanent central venous catheters tip. […]
Asymptomatic fracture and cardiac migration of IV port
“Herein we report a case of spontaneous breakage and cardiac migration in which the patient was asymptomatic. Patient was successfully managed by an interventional cardiologist” Shah et al (2014). Reference: Shah, M., Patni, S. and Bagarahatta, R. (2014) Spontaneous chemoport fracture and cardiac migration. Indian Journal of Surgical Oncology. 5(4), p.325-6. [ctt tweet=”Asymptomatic fracture and […]
Diagnosis of persistent left SVC prior to central venous catheter placement
“Persistent left SVC (PLSVC) is a rare (0.3%) anomaly in healthy subjects, usually asymptomatic, but when present and undiagnosed, it may be associated with difficulties and complications of CVC placement” Rossi et al (2015). Reference: Rossi, U.G., Rigamonti, P., Torcia, P., Mauri, G., Brunini, F., Rossi, M., Gallieni, M. and Cariati, M. (2015) Congenital anomalies […]
Fracture-embolization of an implantable vascular port
“Fracture-embolization of the port catheter is an uncommon but life-threatening complication. Timely recognition and management is important to minimize the morbidity and mortality” Sundriyal et al (2014). Reference: Sundriyal, D., Jain, S. and Manjunath, S. (2014) Difficult to flush chemoport: an important clinical sign. Indian Journal of Surgical Oncology. 5(4), p.307-9. [ctt tweet=”Fracture-embolization of an […]
Use of six sigma strategies to reduce central line-associated bloodstream infections
“This study describes the successful application of the DMAIC model in the creation and implementation of evidence-based quality improvement designed to reduce CLABSIs to below national benchmarks” Loftus et al (2015). Reference: Loftus, K., Tilley, T., Hoffman, J., Bradburn, E. and Harvey, E. (2015) Use of six sigma strategies to pull the line on central […]
Experience of Rituximab administration by the subcutaneous route
“Although additional information is required, these results suggest that sc. rituximab may become a useful option for treating patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma” Solal-Celigny (2015). Reference: Solal-Celigny, P. (2015) Rituximab by subcutaneous route. Expert Review of Hematology. 8(2), p.147-53. [ctt tweet=”Experience of Rituximab administration by the subcutaneous route http://ctt.ec/awt2H+ @ivteam #ivteam” coverup=”awt2H”] Abstract: Rituximab has […]
Review of intraosseous infusion rates under high pressure
“We sought to compare the performance of IO devices placed in the sternum, humeral head, and proximal tibia using a fresh human cadaver model” Pasley et al (2015). Reference: Pasley, J., Miller, C.H., DuBose, J.J., Shackelford, S.A., Fang, R., Boswell, K., Halcome, C., Casey, J., Cotter, M., Matsuura, M., Relph, N., Tarmey, N.T. and Stein, […]