Experiences of Using Long-Term Cuffed Catheter in Hemodialysis Patients

Objective To investigate the effect of long-term cuffed catheter as access for maintenance hemodialysis and its related complications.Methods The survival and complications of cuffed catheters,implanted in our department form July 2004 to October 2006 for long-term blood access in 8 patients with chronic renal failure,were observed;and urea reduce rate(URR)and Kt/V were taken as the index for evaluation of the effect of hemodislysis.Results Internal jugular vein were used for the site of catheter implantation in 8 attempts,and femoral vein in 3 for re-implantation.The survival times of the implanted catheters were 2 to 26 months,the average survival time was(11.3±8.2)months.The maintenance hemodialysis was conducted 1400 times.As common complications catheter thrombosis occurred in 4 cases,of which catheter patency was restored in 3 cases,and cuffed catheter was abandoned in 1 case.Three episodes of catheter related infections occurred in 3 cases for 5 times,and were successfully treated by anti-inflammation therapy.The average URR was 67%,and Kt/V was 1.3 in all 8 patients.Conclusion Long-term cuffed catheter for blood access in maintenance hemodialysis can get an adequate dialysis.A good catheter implanting technique and careful nursing may raise the application effect and reduce the complications of the catheter.