Use of central venous catheters in children

The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of central venous catheters (CVCs) in the Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of Split University Hospital (SUH). We reviewed the records of all children that had CVCs and were hospitalized between January 2002 and March 2006. Patients were evaluated with respect to their age, gender, catheter type, indication for CVC insertion, site and side of the body of CVC insertion. The duration of catheter use and eventual complications were also taken into consideration. A total of 352 CVCs were inserted in 300 children. Patient age ranged from 0 to 18 years. The average catheter insertion time was 12.88 days. We noted 66 (18.8%) CVC-related complications. Complications related to CVCs insertion were malposition of catheter (5.4%) and pneumothorax (0.9%). Occlusion of CVCs (4.3%), catheter related-bloodstream infections (CRBI) (4.0%), dislodgment (3.7%) and catheter damage (0.6%) were complications associated with lenght of CVCs use. We conclude that central venous catheterization is a safe and efficient procedure with minimal complications in pediatric patients.