PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Josée Dubois, MD MSc
AU  - Françoise Rypens MD
AU  - Laurent Garel MD
AU  - Michèle David MD
AU  - Jacques Lacroix MD
AU  - France Gauvin, MD MSc
TI  - Incidence of deep vein thrombosis related to peripherally inserted central catheters in children and adolescents
AID  - 10.1503/cmaj.070316
DP  - 2007 Nov 06
TA  - Canadian Medical Association Journal
PG  - 1185--1190
VI  - 177
IP  - 10
4099  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/177/10/1185.short
4100  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/177/10/1185.full
SO  - CMAJ2007 Nov 06; 177
AB  - Background: Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) in children and adolescents are being used with increasing frequency. We sought to determine the incidence and characterize risk factors of deep vein thrombosis associated with peripherally inserted central catheters in a pediatric population. Methods: We conducted a prospective study involving consecutive patients referred to the radiology department of a tertiary care university-affiliated hospital for insertion of a peripherally inserted central catheter. We included patients aged 18 years or less who weighed more than 2.5 kg and had a peripherally inserted central catheter successfully inserted in his or her arm between June 2004 and November 2005. The primary outcome was the occurrence of partial or complete deep vein thrombosis evaluated by clinical examination, ultrasonography and venous angiography. Results: A total of 214 patients (101 girls, 113 boys) were included in the study. Partial or complete deep vein thrombosis occurred in 20 patients, for an incidence of 93.5 per 1000 patients and 3.85 per 1000 catheter-days. Only 1 of the cases was symptomatic. In the univariable analyses, the only variable significantly associated with deep vein thrombosis was the presence of factor II mutation G20210A (odds ratio 7.08, 95% confidence interval 1.11–45.15, p = 0.04), a genetic mutation that increases the risk of a blood clot and that was present in 5 (2.3%) of the 214 patients. Interpretation: The incidence of deep vein thrombosis related to peripherally inserted central catheters in our study was lower than the incidence related to centrally inserted venous catheters described in the pediatric literature (11%–50%).