CENTRAL VENOUS PRESSURE LINE

Objective: To study the frequency of complications of central venous pressure line. S t u d y d e s i g n . Descriptiveobservational study. S e t t i n g : This study was carried out in surgical ward and intensive care unit of Fauji Foundation hospital Rawalpindiand Frontier Medical College Abbottabad. P e r i o d : From 2003-2007. M e t h o d s a n d Materials: One hundred consecutive surgical patientsneeding central venous line insertion above 14 years of age were included in the study. Patients under 14 years of age, with central venousline in situ at the time of admission, with thoracic trauma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, burns involving upper chest and neck areas,cardiovascular disease and bleeding disorders were excluded from this study. R e s u l t s : 100 cases were included in the study with the rangeof age between 16-82 years. There were 76% female and 24% male. Out of these 100 cases 40 were suffering from malignancy, 20 weresuffering from intestinal obstruction, 10 were with peritonitis and 30 cases were having miscellaneous disorders. Rate of complications ofcentral venous line was 30% in this study. Rate of infection was 20%, rate of misplacement of catheter was 8% and rate of pneumothoraxwas 2% C o n c l u s i o n : infection is the most common complication of the central venous line insertion followed by misplacement of catheterand pneumothorax, so it is important to take specific measures to minimize these complications