Study finds similar infection rates between PICC lines and central venous catheters in hospitalized patients
“When placed in hospitalized patients, PICCs are associated with a risk of central line-associated bloodstream infections that mirror that of central venous catheters” … Vineet Chopra, MD. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. September 2013, Vol. 34, No. 9.
“We are investigating PICC line-related bloodstream infections, including those that have suffered from sepsis and septic shock. These are complications that affect all ages.” — Greg Vigna, MD, JD
Greg Vigna, MD, JD, national product liability attorney, “I have taken care of dozens of people over the years who needed inpatient rehabilitation with serious medical complications caused by PICC line (peripheral inserted central catheter) associated bloodstream infections. Physicians who order a PICC line when ongoing intravenous antibiotics are necessary and further attempts at sticking the patient’s arm become futile. PICC lines become necessary when oral antibiotics would not be effective for treating the infection.”
The article said, “PICC-related central line-associated bloodstream infection among hospitalized patients was 5.2% (76 of 1,473) versus 5.8% (76 of 1,302) in those that received central venous catheters.”
Dr. Vigna adds, “Five percent risk of getting a blood infection from a PICC line infection is a high number. This was a 2013 study, and there are currently safer designs of catheter tubing that substantially reduce the risk of blood clots associated with the tubing and the risk of blood infections. To continue using 2013-type technology is not acceptable. Bloodstream infections from PICC lines will prolong hospitalization at best, and at worst, lead to death. Safer devices are on the market with no other additional risks identified. Using an older design that doesn’t reduce the rate of these complications is not acceptable.”
Dr. Vigna concludes, “We are investigating PICC line-related bloodstream infections, including those that have suffered from sepsis and septic shock. These are complications that affect all ages.”
Blood infections from PICC lines lead to sepsis and septic shock.
What is sepsis? Multiple organ damage from inflammation as a result of an infection that may result in organ damage to the brain, kidney, heart, liver, and lung.
What is septic shock? A life-threatening condition that causes dangerously low blood pressure because of infection that may result in amputations of fingers and toes, brain damage, kidney failure, ventilator dependence, oxygen dependence, and nerve damage.
Dr. Vigna is a California and Washington DC lawyer who focuses on serious injuries caused by defective medical devices. He represents the injured with Ben Martin Law Group, a national pharmaceutical injury law firm in Dallas, Texas. The attorneys are product liability and medical malpractice attorneys, and they represent the most injured across the country.
To learn more about PICC lines, click here.
Resources
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/abs/risk-of-bloodstream-infection-associated-with-peripherally-inserted-central-catheters-compared-with-central-venous-catheters-in-adults-a-systematic-review-and-metaanalysis/125DEFF43B6716DDA5665AB0076058A9
https://www.birpublications.org/doi/full/10.1259/bjr/32639616
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17434440.2019.1555466
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261561408000757
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6436570/
Greg Vigna, MD, JD
Vigna Law Group
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