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Perforation by Central Venous Catheters: A New Testament to an Old Test
Author(s) -
Malenka David J.,
Ross Jonathan M.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.935
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 1941-2444
pISSN - 0148-6071
DOI - 10.1177/0148607189013003309
Subject(s) - medicine , central venous catheter , perforation , complication , catheter , surgery , anesthesia , punching , materials science , metallurgy
Perforation by central venous catheters into the extravascular space is a rare complication of central venous lines that may explain new onset shortness of breath in hospitalized patients. We found that lowering bottles containing infusate and looking for return of venous blood is a highly specific test for this problem. Using Bayes' Theorem we calculated that for prior probabilities of catheter perforation of 0.01 and 0.05, corresponding posterior probabilities ranged from 0.1 to 0.15 and 0.35 to 0.49 respectively. This test should be used in all patients with new shortness of breath who have central venous catheters. ( Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 13 :309–311, 1989)