Life on the line - Incidence and management of central venous catheter complications in intestinal failure

Background & Aims Loss of venous access is threatening for patients with intestinal failure (IF) under long-term parenteral nutrition (PN). We aimed to identify the incidence of central venous catheter (CVC) complications, compare different devices, and analyze interventional recanalizing procedures to restore the patency of occluded CVCs. Methods For this retrospective cohort study, patient data from a prospective IF database spanning 16 years was analyzed at a tertiary referral center. Catheter dwell times (CDT) were distinguished by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and subgroup analyses were performed for different CVC types (tunneled/ port catheters). Specific complications (occlusion, catheter-related infection (CRI), displacement, and material defect) were analyzed. Explantation rates and CDT were compared. Results Overall, 193 CVCs in 77 patients with IF under PN could be enrolled (62.524 “CVC-days”). Broviac type “B” was found to be significantly superior to type “A” regarding occlusion, CRI, and material defects (log-rank test: p=0.05; p=0.026; p=0.005 respectively). Port catheters were displaying the highest incidence of CRI (2.13 events/1000 catheter days). Interventional catheter recanalization was performed 91 times and significantly increased the CDT from a median of 131 days (IQR: 62; 258) to 388.5 days (IQR: 262; 731) (Mann-Whitney-U-test: p= <0.001) without increasing complications. Conclusions Different complication rates and CDT were seen depending on CVC type. Tunneled catheters were significantly superior concerning CRI. Interventional catheter recanalization is a viable alternative to fibrinolytics to restore CVC patency, but long-term patency data is scarce.