Comparison of Continuous Flush with Pulse Flush Technique in Clearing Blood Contamination of Small Bore Intra Vascular Catheter: A Randomized Control Trial
SC09-SC11
Correspondence
Dr. Vani Krishnamurthy,
70, Prakruthi, BEML 2nd Stage, Rajarajeshwari Nagara, Mysuru-570022, Karnataka, India.
E-mail: vanidrsri@gmail.com
Introduction: Peripheral vascular catheters are mainly used to administer fluids and drugs in the new born. Improper flushing of the catheters after the drug has been given could lead to blood contamination at the hub which thus, becomes a nidus for infection. There is no standard method of flushing the catheter hub. Hence, we have tried two different methods of flushing to know which of them would result in lesser contamination.
Aim: To compare the effectiveness of continuous flush technique with pulse flush technique in clearing the blood contaminated peripheral vascular catheter hub.
Materials and Methods: The study was a single blind cross over A randomised control study in which health care professionals flushed the catheter that was filled with blood with one ml of normal saline and the flush was discarded. The technique of flushing (continuous or pulse) was as per the random sequence. After a washout period of 30 minutes, the same experiment was repeated with the other technique. The hub residue was obtained in an EDTA vacutainer by flushing 0.2 ml saline and 1 ml of air and analysed by the pathologist for the RBC count.
Results: Sixty-four subjects participated in the study and flushed a catheter with the technique that was suggested in the envelope and subsequently another one by the alternative technique. All the samples obtained by both techniques showed RBCs. Minimum and maximum RBC counts with continuous flush was 8000 and 656000/cu mm respectively. Similarly, minimum and maximum RBC counts with pulse flush were 10240 and 928000/cu mm respectively. The difference was not statistically significant with a p-value of 0.412.
Conclusion: Our study shows there was no significant difference between the techniques used for flushing the catheter after use with respect to clearing the hub from blood.