OBJECTIVE To compare the use of bedside ultrasound and chest radiography to verify central venous catheter tip positioning. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING PICU of a university hospital. PATIENTS Patients aged 0-14 who required a central venous catheter. INTERVENTION None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Central venous catheter tip location was confirmed by ultrasound an...

Generalized alterations in venous tone may shift large amounts of blood within the vascular system. Both physical and emotional stimuli are capable of affecting venous tone. The present report is a study in healthy males of the effects of certain of these factors on pressure (tone) in a peripheral vein segment isolated by means of specially designed, Plexiglas vein oecluders. The emotional stim...

BACKGROUND The positioning of peripheral venous catheters (PVC) is an invasive procedure commonly performed in pediatrics hospital wards to obtain vascular access for the administration of fluids, medications and other intravenous (IV) therapies. Many studies exist about management of peripheral venous access in adults. On the contrary, scientific evidence on the management of this procedure in...

Candida spp. are important causes of nosocomial bloodstream infections. Around 80% of patients with candidemia have an indwelling central venous catheter (CVC). Determining whether the CVC is the source of candidemia has implications for patient management. We assessed whether the time to detection of Candida species in peripheral blood (time to positivity [TTP]) can serve as a marker for cathe...

We made a retrospective cohort study of a primary bloodstream infection outbreak in patients of a cancer unit in a general hospital, evaluated the impact of intervention measures and investigated the predisposing factors. The targeted predisposing factors were selected based on the medical literature. The data were treated with univariate analysis to calculate the relative risk, and statistical...

BACKGROUND Pressure and waveform at the catheter tip are continuously monitored during catheterization of pulmonary artery to ensure accurate catheter placement. We present a case in which pulmonary venous blood was unexpectedly collected from the pulmonary artery catheter despite pulmonary artery pressure and waveform detection at the catheter tip, and describe the measures taken to correct th...

OBJECTIVE Central venous catheters are the predominant cause of nosocomial bacteremia; however, the effectiveness of different antimicrobial central venous catheters remains uncertain. We compared the infection rate of silver-platinum-carbon (SPC)-impregnated catheters with rifampicin-minocycline (RM)-coated catheters. DESIGN A large, single-center, prospective randomized study. SETTING Twe...

INTRODUCTION Ultrasound guidance decreases complications of central venous catheter (CVC) placement, but risks of arterial puncture and inadvertent arterial catheter placement exist. Ultrasound-assisted detection of guidewire position in the internal jugular vein could predict correct catheter position before dilation and catheter placement. METHODS Ultrasound examinations were performed in a...