[Nurse style of central vein! Our experience in the peripherally inserted central venous catheter]

Vascular access unit: Six-years experience report in France

BACKGROUND

The role of nurses in peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) placement has been limited in France. Having a fully trained nurse-led PICC team can positively impact nursing profession and make better use of valuable human and economic healthcare resources. It can also improve the standards of patient's care, procedural experience, and safety.

AIM

The aim of this article is to report the successful outcomes of nurse-led PICC team performed over a 6-year period from a single central hospital in France.

METHODS

The authors reviewed all PICCs insertions performed by their trained nurse led team between 2014 and 2019. All quantitative and qualitative variables were considered: the patients admitted, the type of PICC inserted, overall procedural time, the mentor's help, the insert failures, the number of punctures required, the procedural pain utilizing Visual Analog Scale (VAS), any procedural complications, chest X-rays needed, the follow up to the eighth day (D8).

RESULTS

From 2014 to 2019, 12,687 PICC were inserted with 128 failed procedures (1%). In 2019, 73% of procedural insertion time was less than 10 min. The request of support rapidly decreased to 2 calls/month. More than 90% of procedures were associated with mild pain (VAS ⩽ 3). After the first month of training, 81% of all procedures were performed with a single insertion puncture. Accidental artery puncture during procedure was 0.5%. The authors found room for improvement, progressing from 97% in the first year to 99% in 2019. Furthermore, the authors found that only 1.85% of all catheters developed local infection within D8, and only 0.83% evolved in vein thrombosis. Total bloodstream infection was at 0.1%.

CONCLUSION

The authors report successful outcomes from data collected during the 6-year period demonstrating clear benefits of a nurse-led vascular access team with regard to system wide efficiencies and patient satisfaction.

Brachial Plexus Injury due to Central-line Insertion during Kypho-scoliosis Deformity Correction

Introduction:

Internal Jugular Venous (IJV) cannulation or central-line insertion is frequently performed during kyphoscoliosis deformity correction surgery or spine surgery with high risk. This helps monitor central venous pressure and administer medicines when required. Although many complications of IJV cannulation have been reported in the literature, its effect on brachial plexus is not known. The objective of this paper was to report a rare complication of IJV during scoliosis surgery.

Case Presentation:

We reported a case of 27-year-old male who was operated for severe kyphoscoliosis correction where preoperatively IJV cannulation was done. Repeated attempts were done during IJV cannula insertion due to altered anatomy. Eventually, cannula insertion was done using ultrasound modality and surgery for correction was done. Postoperatively patient developed right upper extremity weakness and sensory loss although the clinical result of kyphoscoliosis correction was acceptable. EMG-NCV study proved it brachial plexus injury. The patient was treated with intravenous steroid and physiotherapy. The patient recovered completely within 6 months of surgery.

Conclusion:

We reported a case of kyphoscoliosis deformity corrective surgery where IJV cannulation led to brachial plexus injury and was eventually recovered with medications and physiotherapy.