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Multicenter Study
. 2013 Feb;162(2):387-91.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.06.059. Epub 2012 Aug 9.

Incidence and acute complications of asymptomatic central venous catheter-related deep venous thrombosis in critically ill children

Edward Vincent S Faustino  1 , Philip C Spinella, Simon Li, Matthew G Pinto, Petronella Stoltz, Joana Tala, Mary Elizabeth Card, Veronika Northrup, Kenneth E Baker, T Rob Goodman, Lei Chen, Cicero T Silva
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Incidence and acute complications of asymptomatic central venous catheter-related deep venous thrombosis in critically ill children

Edward Vincent S Faustino et al. J Pediatr. 2013 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To determined the current incidence and acute complications of asymptomatic central venous catheter (CVC)-related deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in critically ill children.

Study design: We performed a prospective cohort study in 3 pediatric intensive care units. A total of 101 children with newly inserted untunneled CVC were included. CVC-related DVT was diagnosed using compression ultrasonography with color Doppler.

Results: Asymptomatic CVC-related DVT was diagnosed in 16 (15.8%) children, which equated to 24.7 cases per 1000 CVC-days. Age was independently associated with DVT. Compared with children aged <1 year, children aged >13 years had significantly higher odds of DVT (aOR, 14.1, 95% CI, 1.9-105.8; P = .01). Other patient demographics, interventions (including anticoagulant use), and CVC characteristics did not differ between children with and without DVT. Mortality-adjusted duration of mechanical ventilation, a surrogate for pulmonary embolism, was statistically similar in the 2 groups (22 ± 9 days in children with DVT vs 23 ± 7 days in children without DVT; P = .34). Mortality-adjusted intensive care unit and hospital lengths of stay also were similar in the 2 groups.

Conclusion: Asymptomatic CVC-related DVT is common in critically ill children. However, the acute complications do not seem to differ between children with and without DVT. Larger studies are needed to confirm these results. Future studies should also investigate the chronic complications of asymptomatic CVC-related DVT.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Consort diagram. *No exit ultrasonography.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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