An observational study of the securement of central venous access devices with a subcutaneous anchor device in a paediatric population at a tertiary level hospital

Abstract

Paediatric central venous access devices are associated with significant complications. Failure rates have been estimated to be as high as 25%, with securement failure a significant contributing factor. In this study, we evaluate the use of a subcutaneous securement device, securAcath^TM, in minimising rates of central venous access device dislodgement and unintended early removal within a paediatric population. Data were collected on 52 consecutive paediatric patients, aged less than 18 years old, who required peripherally inserted central catheters and non-cuffed tunnelled centrally inserted central catheters. We found that the rate of securement failure with securAcath^TM was 2.01 per 1000 catheter days. This compared to 2.58 in our previous practice without securAcath^TM. With the use of securAcath^TM, no securement failures were observed in our patients with non-cuffed tunnelled centrally inserted central catheters. There were three instances of securement failure in patients with peripherally inserted central catheters. We conclude that the use of a securAcath^TM fixation device in central venous access devices is an effective method of securement, especially in use with non-cuffed tunneled centrally inserted central catheters. However, when significant tension is applied to the central venous access devices migration is still possible.