Percutaneous cuffed catheter insertion by nephrologists

Diagnosis of unexplained bleeding from tunneled dialysis catheter

Bleeding after hemodialysis catheter placement is commonly seen and can happen because of anticoagulation, poor platelet function in dialysis patients, and trauma to the vessel and tunnel tract during placement. We wish to present here two cases of prolonged exist site bleeding with tunneled dialysis catheters (SchonCath dialysis catheter, Angio-Dynamics, Queensbury, N.Y.) due to unsuspected catheter leak within the tunneled portion of the catheter, which was identified with angiogram.