Our Experiences with Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters in Newborn Infants

Objective Preterm babies are followed in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) for long times, so they need long-term vascular access. For long-term vascular access umbilical vein catheters, central venous catheters and peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) are used. In present study we aimed to evaluate the clinical features of newborn infants in whom PICC was inserted.Materials and Methods The medical records of the newborn infants in whom PICC had been inserted from June 2016 to June 2019 are evaluated retrospectively. Demographic features of the patients, reasons for PICC insertion, clinical features of the infants during PICC insertion, and complications of the application are recorded.Results The data of 151 PICC that were inserted in 129 newborn infants were collected. Antibiotic treatment was needed because of infections in 134 (88.7%) PICCs. In 72 (47.6%) of them sepsis was present before PICC insertion, and in 17 (11.2%) after PICC insertion. No statistical difference was found in terms of the frequency of occlusion, leak and/or thrombophlebitis between patients in whom PICCs were inserted via the upper body veins and lower body veins, and right veins and left veins (p gt;0.05). Conclusion Our results indicate that the PICC application significantly decreases the number of peripheral vascular access attempts in newborn infants, long-term total parenteral nutrition (TPN) and antibiotic administration becomes possible and insertion from upper or lower extremity veins and right or left side veins does not affect the frequency of complications.