Clinical study of complications of a peripherally inserted central catheter in cancer patients.

AIM:To evaluate complications after PICC use in cancer patients. DESIGN:This was a clinical and retrospective study in which the risk factors and complications of PICC use were evaluated. METHODS:This study was carried out in the patient, emergency room, and intensive care units through the evaluation of electronic medical records. To assess the association between qualitative variables, the chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test was used, and to compare the reason for withdrawal, the Kruskal-Wallis test was applied. RESULTS:A total of 359 patients (53.5% men) with 43.1 ± 14 years who had a PICC (88% with solid tumours) were evaluated. The most common complications were mechanical complications (61.2%), infection (38%), and thrombosis (57.1%). Patients with double-lumen catheters experienced thrombosis (85.7%). This study demonstrated the effectiveness of PICC and that patients with haematological cancer are more prone to multiple PICC passages and more mechanical complications and infections.