The use of pigtail catheters for retrieval of foreign bodies from the cardiovascular system

Abstract

Snare retrieval of foreign bodies is a common procedure but in certain cases, location of the foreign body requires another system. We present three cases in which only the use of a pigtail catheter gave a good grip for gentle traction and removal or repositioning of the foreign body. A careful review of the world literature up to December 1982 gave rise to two previous similar reports. Both our experience and that found in the literature seem to suggest that in cases where there are no free ends to snare, pigtail catheters may be the first instrument used to start retrieval.

Removal of Intravascular Foreign Bodies With a Simple Low-Cost Method: A Report of 5 Cases

“…The technique of interlacing and traction with a pigtail catheter is poorly described in the literature. The use of the pigtail for maneuvering FB without accessible free ends toward the puncture site was initially described for reduced caliber catheters by Auge et al 15 Afterward, the use of the pigtail was described in the literature by other authors as an auxiliary instrument in the movement of the intravascular FB, in order to free one of its extremities and facilitate the use of a capture loop. 3,4,11 Our initial experience with the 5Fr pigtail catheter (Cook Medical) for interlacing and traction of embolized FBs in the venous territory shows that it is possible to not use a capture loop even for larger caliber catheters and it is a safe, effective, and low-cost technique.…”

Spontaneous migration of a catheter embolus from the left inferior to the right inferior pulmonary artery

“…Migration of the distal end of a long-term central venous catheter to any of its neighboring tributaries also has been reported [5][6][7]. Various nonsurgical techniques to extract the catheters have been described in the literature [8][9][10]. Prior to any intervention, it is imperative to rule out the presence of a thrombus around the catheter.…”

Retrieval Devices and Techniques for the Extraction of Intravascular Foreign Bodies in the Coronary Arteries

“…It is too large to advance into the coronary arteries and is used only in larger caliber, peripheral vessels. Pigtail catheters can also be used to snare and retrieve catheter fragments in larger caliber vessels, but it is obviously too large to be used in the coronary vasculature 30 …”