In hospitalized patients, increased risk of upper- and lower-extremity deep vein thrombosis
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 19, 2015 (HealthDay News) — For hospitalized patients, peripherally inserted central catheter presence is associated with increased risk of upper- and lower-extremity deep vein thrombosis, according to a study published recently in The American Journal of Medicine.
M. Todd Greene, Ph.D., M.P.H., from The Michigan Hospital Safety Consortium in Ann Arbor, and colleagues conducted a retrospective study involving 76,242 hospitalized medical patients from 48 Michigan hospitals. Phone and record review was used to ascertain peripherally inserted central catheter presence, comorbidities, venous thrombosis risk factors, and thrombotic events within 90 days of hospital admission.
The researchers found that during hospitalization, 3,790 patients received a peripherally inserted central catheter. There were 876 thromboembolic events from hospital admission to 90 days. Independent correlations were seen for peripherally inserted central catheter use with all-cause venous thromboembolism (hazard ratio [HR], 3.16; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 2.59 to 2.85), upper-extremity deep vein thrombosis (HR, 10.49; 95 percent CI, 7.79 to 14.11), and lower-extremity deep vein thrombosis (HR, 1.48; 95 percent CI, 1.02 to 2.15), after risk adjustment. There was no correlation for peripherally inserted central catheter use with pulmonary embolism (HR, 1.34; 95 percent CI, 0.86 to 2.06).
“Peripherally inserted central catheter use is associated with upper- and lower-extremity deep vein thrombosis,” the authors write. “Weighing the thrombotic risks conferred by peripherally inserted central catheters against clinical benefits seems necessary.”
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the health insurance industry.
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