Introduction The aim of this article is to describe and discuss some differences between the short peripheral intravenous catheter (SPIVC) and the long peripheral intravenous catheter (LPIVC)...
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What is the meaning of symbols on medical devices labels?
On medical devices labels, manufacturers have to include the necessary information about the equipment that healthcare professionals are going to use for patient care. Provided on products’ batches...
Mechanical complications of implantable ports – A testimonial of Dr Jean-Jacques Simon
The mechanical complications of an implantable port are numerous and frequent. However, they are often avoidable if the basic rules of insertion and use are known and respected. We can classify the...
Inadequate care in midlines: 5 complications to know
Intravenous therapy is a usual treatment for hospitalized patients and increasingly, for those who are at home. The administration of drugs can give rise to problems such as phlebitis and extravasation among others, which can force us to use various peripheral routes. Over time, different devices have emerged, including midlines…
Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters (PICCs): Best Practice
The last article in this series discussed methods to reduce the risk of complications in PICCs. This final article will focus on how to troubleshoot some of the most common complications associated with PICCs if they do occur…
The placement of PICC-ports by multidisciplinary teams – A Marta Rubio de las Cuevas interview
In this article, we interview Marta Rubio de las Cuevas on the placement of PICC-ports by multidisciplinary teams. Marta has been a nurse in the Vascular-Interventional Radiology Department at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital in Santander, which has been a pioneer in the training of multidisciplinary teams for the insertion of PICCs for 43 years…
5 things to know about thrombosis in PICCs
In this article, we will address thrombosis in peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) based on the following aspects: incidence, causes, physiology, symptomatology, and prevention…
Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters (PICCs): The safe use
The use of PICCs has increased in recent years and can now be found in many specialties and in both hospital and out of hospital settings. Despite being devices that are beneficial to patient care, they are associated with potential complications. Such complications include: infection, occlusion, thrombosis, catheter, migration, catheter fracture…
Therapeutic Apheresis
We are currently seeing a boom in therapeutic apheresis (TA) with indications not only in oncohaematology, but also in nephrology, cardiology, dermatology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, neurology, metabolic diseases… the list of diseases whose treatments include TA goes on and on…
Administration of chemotherapy: what are the risks in the Oncology Day Hospital?
Too many patients attend the Oncology Day Hospital (ODH) services to receive their chemotherapy treatment. In an environment with a significant healthcare burden, nurses are also exposed to the danger of cytostatic drugs used in cancer treatments…
The Seldinger technique: when to use the classical or modified method
The evolution of the Seldinger technique since its development in the 1950s has allowed this method to be used with other types of vascular access devices and in fields outside of interventional radiology…
Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs): The key principles
Although Vascular Access Devices (VAD) have many advantages, the burden of harm associated with them is significant. It is now accepted that the presence of any VAD immediately places patients at risk of complications…