Dislodgement Rates of Tunneled Femoral Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters in Pediatric Oncology Patients.
Yuejie Yang, Xuxia Chen, Shuofang Yang and 4 others
PMID 42065604WHAT IT FOUND
In children with cancer, tunneled femoral PICCs had a 12.41% dislodgement rate compared with 40.95% for upper arm PICCs.
They also stayed in longer, averaging 181.50 days versus 114.97 days. This supports tunneled femoral placement for reducing catheter loss.
Key findings
01The dislodgement rate was 12.41% in the tunneled femoral group and 40.95% in the conventional upper arm group, a statistically significant difference.
02Mean catheter indwelling time was 181.50 days in the tunneled group compared with 114.97 days in the conventional group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was retrospective and conducted at a single center, which introduces potential selection bias and limits generalizability. Unmeasured confounding factors, such as disease severity or parental care compliance, may have influenced the results. The specific causes of dislodgement (e.g., child agitation, improper dressing care) were not analyzed in detail. Infection rates were not systematically assessed, despite known risks associated with femoral sites.
Declared interests
The work was supported by the Research Fund of Shandong Province Medical and Health Science and Technology Development Plan Project. No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this method eliminates all complications. The study did not systematically assess infection rates, and femoral sites may carry higher infection risks than upper arm sites. Also, because this is a retrospective cohort, not a randomized trial, unmeasured factors like patient behavior or care quality could explain some of the difference in dislodgement rates.