ABSTRACT

Intravascular devices are indispensable for administration of fluids and electrolytes, blood products, drugs, and nutritional support. Patients frequently need a central venous catheter (CVC) to administer chemotherapy for malignant diseases and for total parenteral nutrition. In addition, intensive care units (ICU) use these devices for continuous hemodynamic monitoring of their critically ill patients. Most catheters are made of polyurethane,

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silicon, or rarely Teflon. A more recent development is the antimicrobial coating of catheters that shall prevent microbial colonization and subsequent infection. More than 20 million patients (over 50%) admitted to U.S. hospitals receive infusion therapy each year (1), and a similar figure of 63% was noted in a European multicenter study (2). Complications arising from intravascular access catheters are frequently observed and generally underestimated. Most importantly, they are largely preventable. Complications of intravascular devices have been known for a long time and were first published only two years after the introduction of plastic catheters in 1945 (3).