Permanence of Hickman Catheter in Patients Undergoing Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Retrospective Study

Abstract

Introduction: The use of the Hickman's catheter is critical to enable complex therapies. Nevertheless, its safe stay in situ requires knowledge of the professionals who handle this device about the major complications that lead to its withdrawal. Objective: Analyze the permanence of the Hickman catheter in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study with retrospective data collection. Seventy-three medical records of patients were identified in the interest period of the study, of which three were excluded for having incomplete information. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics. Results: 78 catheters were implanted in 70 patients. The mean length of stay of the devices was 41 days (sd=26.78). The average time between catheter insertion and start of the conditioning regimen was four days (sd=4.6). Regarding the indication for catheter removal, in 26 (33.4%) cases, the withdrawal was indicated due to suspicion of catheter-related infections. In other 24 (30.8%) cases, indicating occurred after the patient has initiated outpatient follow-up, however, without complications documented in the patient record. Conclusion: The Hickman catheter usually cause complications, among them, the infection which leads to a short length of stay of the device in situ, contradicting its proposed for long time, and often be removed without explicit criterion record before the end of therapy. This research contributes to nurses of clinical practice to identify the main reasons for catheter removal and provide data that can support proposals for interventions to minimize them.