Rates of Venous Thromboembolism and Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections Among Types of Central Venous Access Devices in Critically Ill Children*

Objectives: Central venous access devices, including peripherally inserted central catheters and central venous catheters, are often needed in critically ill patients, but also are associated with complications, including central-line associated bloodstream infections and venous thromboembolism. We compared different central venous access device types and these complications in the PICU. Design: Multicenter, cohort study. Setting: One hundred forty-eight participating Virtual PICU Systems, LLC, hospital PICU sites. Patients: Pediatric patients with central venous access placed from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2015. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Patient and central venous access device variables postulated to be associated with central-line associated bloodstream infection and venous thromboembolism were included. Data were analyzed using Pearson chi-square test or Fisher exact test for categorical variables, Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables, and logistic regression and classification trees for multivariable analysis that examined significant predictors of venous thromboembolism or central-line associated bloodstream infection. Analysis included 74,196 first lines including 4,493 peripherally inserted central catheters and 66,194 central venous catheters. An increased rate of venous thromboembolism (peripherally inserted central catheter: 0.93%, central venous catheter: 0.52%; p = 0.001) (peripherally inserted central catheter: 8.65/1,000 line days, central venous catheter: 6.29/1,000 line days) and central-line associated bloodstream infection (peripherally inserted central catheter: 0.73%, central venous catheter: 0.24%; p = 0.001) (peripherally inserted central catheter: 10.82/1,000 line days, central venous catheter: 4.97/1,000 line days) occurred in peripherally inserted central catheters. In multivariable analysis, central venous catheters had decreased association with central-line associated bloodstream infection (odds ratio, 0.505; 95% CI, 0.336–0.759; p = 0.001) and venous thromboembolism (odds ratio, 0.569; 95% CI, 0.330–0.982; p = 0.043) compared with peripherally inserted central catheters. Conclusions: Peripherally inserted central catheters are associated with higher rates of central-line associated bloodstream infection and venous thromboembolism than central venous catheters in children admitted to the PICU.