Abstract
In the last two years 307 patients were treated for occluded CVCs in the recovery
room of Special Procedures. Of the 307 patients, there were 191 patients with a single
lumen catheter (62%), 24 patients with a double lumen catheter (8%), 10 patients with
a triple lumen catheter (3%), 66 patients with a single chest port (21%), 5 patients
with a double chest port (2%), and 1 patient with a dialysis chest port access system
(0.3%). All patients received 2 mg/2 ml dose of rt-PA except the patient with the
dialysis port system, who was treated with 3 mg/3 ml of rt-PA. The in catheter dwelling
times of the rt-PA were 30 minutes (289 of 307; 94%) and 60 minutes (18 of 307; 4%).
A unique technique utilizing the proper placement of the needle, 3-way stopcocks,
and creation of negative pressure is described. Out of the 307 patients, 300 (97.7%)
had restored patency with free flow of blood of their CVCs.
