Retrieval of an IV Catheter Fragment From the Pulmonary Artery 11 Years After Embolization

Something's Missing: Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Fracture

“…The majority of these reports relate to the use of central line catheters, with catheter fragments ranging from 3.5 to 72 cm in length and resulting in a range of complications including sepsis, perforation, thrombosis, dysrhythmia, and myocardial infarction. 2,3 Surprisingly, although the use of over-the-needle type peripheral IV catheters dates back to 1957, 4 with wide-spread use beginning in the 1970s, to our knowledge embolism of fragments from fractured peripheral IVs has been reported in the English literature only by Singh et al 5 Following the incident, an after-action investigation was conducted. The findings suggested that the probable cause of the catheter fracture was partial transection from either trying to reinsert the needle into the already advanced catheter or advancing both catheter and needle with the needle partially withdrawn.…”

Successful removal of a peripherally inserted central catheter fragment from the heart with a vena cava filter retrieval set

“…Although some patients may be completely asymptomatic or may suffer no complications from the retained catheter fragment for many years [5], the risk of such complications is considerable [6]. In view of these risks, an attempt should be made at removal [4].…”

“…Percutaneous retrieval avoids the need for surgery in these cases. A few percutaneous techniques have been reported, but very little has been published in the literature regarding the use of vena cava filter retrieval sets [2,3]. Here, we report a case of a female patient with breast cancer who experienced a fracture of the PICC with subsequent migration of the catheter fragment through the superior vena cava and into the right atrium, the right ventricle and the main pulmonary artery.…”

Atypical pulmonary embolism of port catheter fragments in oncology patients

“…However, one case with pulmonary catheter embolism was reported in which catheter fragment was detected incidentally 11 years after embolization [23].…”