Real-time Ultrasound for Tip Location of Umbilical Venous Catheter in Neonates: a Pre/post Intervention Study
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Background: Recent guidelines advocate the use of real-time ultrasound to locate umbilical venous catheter tip. So far, training programs are not well established.
Methods: A pre/post interventional study was carried out in our tertiary neonatal intensive care unit centre to evaluate the efficacy of a training protocol in the use of real-time ultrasound. Primary outcome was the percentage in the use of real-time ultrasound.
Results: Fifty-four patients were enrolled. The use of real-time ultrasound for tip location significantly increased after the training program (15.3% vs 89.2%, p < 0.0001). After the training the tip of the catheters was more frequently placed at the junction of the inferior vena cava and right atrium (75% vs 30.7%, p = 0.0023). Twenty-two catheters were also evaluated with serial scans during the intervention phase to assess migration rate which was 50%.
Conclusion: a multimodal, targeted training on the use of real-time ultrasound for umbilical venous catheter placement is feasible. Real-time ultrasound is easily teachable, increases the number of umbilical venous catheters placed in a correct position, reduces the number of line manipulations and the need of chest-x-rays.
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