Abstract
PURPOSE: To determine the safety and efficacy of weekly prophylactic urokinase therapy in tunneled central venous access devices (VADs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, randomized study was performed in 105 patients who underwent tunneled VAD placement between March 1997 and April 1998. The patients were randomized to receive either twice-daily heparin flushes (14 heparin flushes per week; group A, n = 52) or twice-daily heparin flushes with once-weekly urokinase (UK) instillation (13 heparin flushes, one UK flush per week; group B, n = 53). Patients were followed up by examination and/or interview at 1, 3, and 6 months for signs and symptoms of delayed catheter-related complications. RESULTS: The total number of indwelling catheter-days was similar between groups (5,450 in group A, 5,276 in group B). The total number of infectious complications and fibrin sheaths formed was greater for group A (n = 11; 21.1%) than group B (n = 3; 5.7%) (P = .02). There were no side effects noted from the prophylactic UK administrations. CONCLUSION: Prophylactic UK is advantageous in preventing delayed catheter- related complications.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1330-1334 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1999 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Catheters and catheterization, central venous access
- Central venous access
- Urokinase
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine