Incidence of Deep Venous Thrombosis Associated with Femoral Venous Catheterization

Abstract

Objective: To determine in adult medical patients the incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) resulting from femora] venous catheterization (FVC).Methods: A prospective, observational study was performed at a 420‐bed community teaching hospital. Hep‐arin‐coated 7‐Fr 20‐cm femoral venous catheters were inserted unilaterally into a femoral vein. Each contra‐lateral leg served as a control site. Age, gender, number of FVC days. DVT risk factors, administration of DVT prophylaxis, and DVT formation and site were tabulated for each patient. Venous duplex sonography was performed bilaterally on each patient within 7 days of femoral venous catheter removal.Results: Catheters were placed in 29 men and 13 women. Femoral DVT was identified by venous duplex sonography in 11 (26.2%) of the FVC legs and none (0%) in the control legs. Posterior tibial and popliteal DVT was identified in both the FVC and control legs of 1 patient. DVT formation at the site of FVC insertion was highly significant (p = 0.005). There were no statistically significant associations with age (p = 0.42), gender (p = 0.73), number of DVT risk factors (p = 0.17), number of FVC days (p = 0.89), or DVT prophylaxis (p — 099).Conclusion: Placement of femoral catheters for central venous access is associated with a significant incidence of femoral DVT as detected by venous duplex sonography criteria at the site of femoral venous catheter placement. Physicians must be aware of this risk when choosing this vascular access route for adult medical patients. Further studies to assess the relative risk for DVT and its clinical sequelae when using the femoral vs other central venous catheter routes are indicated.

Characterization of central venous catheter–associated deep venous thrombosis in infants

“…Interestingly, there are multiple reviews in the pediatric and adult literature citing an increased DVT rate with femoral catheters [6,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. In studies that separate patients by age, smaller patients (b1 year old) are found to have a higher incidence of femoral CVC-associated DVTs than any other group [5,6].…”

Intravascular Cooling in the Treatment of Stroke (ICTuS): Early Clinical Experience

“…All reported bleeding complications DVT rates reported for patients hospitalized for acute stroke. 15,16 In the 1 patient who received hypothermia for ϳ1 hour (a 73-year-old man with a known history of coronary artery disease), intermittent supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) was reported as an adverse event beginning close to the initiation of cooling. This patient became agitated after administration of fentanyl and midazolam in preparation for catheter placement, which prompted his wife to withdraw study consent after only 67 minutes of cooling and may have contributed to his SVT.…”

Incidence, risk factors, and treatment patterns for deep venous thrombosis in hospitalized children: An increasing population at risk

“…The femoropopliteal venous system is most commonly involved. 11,14,18 These children are generally older and healthier at the time of admission than their counterparts with DVT acquired while in the hospital. These children are admitted and with treatment are rapidly discharged.…”