Premium
COMPLICATIONS OF UMBILICAL VESSEL CATHETERS
Author(s) -
Johns A. W.,
Kitchen W. H.,
Leslie D. W.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1972.tb103561.x
Subject(s) - medicine , umbilical artery , umbilical vein , sepsis , catheter , surgery , complication , umbilical cord , bacteremia , fetus , pregnancy , anatomy , antibiotics , biochemistry , genetics , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , in vitro , biology
Over a period of five years, 789 catheters were inserted into the umbilical vessels of newborn infants. On 429 occasions an umbilical artery was successfully cannulated. The umbilical vein was used electively on 254 occasions and in an additional 106 infants after failure to cannulate the artery. A serious complication occurred with approximately 1% of all catheters. The procedure was possibly responsible for a fatal infection in 0.25% with infection in a further 1.14% of patients who had nonfatal sepsis. Culture of the catheter‐tip after its removal proved unhelpful in the diagnosis of subsequent systemic infection.