ABSTRACT
Aim: Central venous access devices (CVADs) are vital medical devices to support the treatment of paediatric cancer, however device occlusion is common, which disrupts treatment. This study aimed to improve the identification and management of CVAD occlusions in children with cancer, as well as to identify the demographic, clinical and device characteristics associated with increased risk for CVAD occlusion.
Methods: A pre- post- implementation study was conducted at a metropolitan paediatric oncology facility in Australia, using the Theoretical Domains Framework. Patients with a CVAD for anti-cancer therapy were prospectively followed for occlusive events pre- and post- the implementation of clinical resources to support the identification and management of CVAD occlusive events. CVAD occlusion and management data were collected and compared pre- and post- implementation. Risk factors for CVAD occlusion were described by mixed-effects poisson regression, and incident rate ratios (IRR).
Results: A total of 133 CVADs were inserted into 131 patients for a total of 6,784 catheter days. The incidence of CVAD-related occlusion pre-implementation was 59.7 (95% CI 51.4-69.0, per 1,000 catheter days); compared to 31.6 [95% CI 26.4-37.6]; p<0.01) post-implementation of clinical resources. In multivariate models, other than post-implementation phases (IRR 0.51 [95% CI 0.32- 0.81]), only neutropenia significantly increased the risk of CVAD occlusion (IRR 2.14 [95% CI 1.15- 3.97]).
Conclusion: CVAD occlusions in paediatric oncology are common. The development and implementation of CVAD occlusion resources to guide the identification and management of occlusive episodes led to a significant decrease in occlusive events.
KEYWORDS: central venous catheters; catheterization, peripheral; venous thrombosis; neoplasms; oncology nursing; implementation science