Impact of decreased heparin dose for flush‐lock of implanted venous access ports in pediatric oncology patients

Abstract

Children with implanted ports had similar complication rates and care safety measures whether their ports were flushed with 10 units/ml of heparin or 100 units/ml. Standardizing flush-locks to lower doses of heparin may be a promising approach to maintaining port patency without compromising patient safety.

Reply: Can implanted venous access ports remain patent without maintenance flush‐lock?

“…The letter by Lee et al provides an interesting anecdote which may support our findings . However, our results and this case would require more robust study designs to provide evidence to support wider adoption of less frequent flush‐locking or the use of normal saline instead of heparin for flush‐lock.…”

ESPGHAN/ESPEN/ESPR/CSPEN guidelines on pediatric parenteral nutrition: Venous access

“…A Cochrane review in adult patients comparing heparin with normal saline flushes found no convincing difference in maintaining CVC patency [146]. After a change in practice, Rosenbluth et al [147] explored the effect of using 100 U/mL v 10 U/mL heparin solution for flushing implantable vascular ports in pediatric oncology patients, and found no difference in complication rates.…”

Can implanted venous access ports remain patent without maintenance flush‐lock?

“…To the Editor: We read with interest the paper by Rosenbluth et al on the use of heparin saline for the flush‐lock of implanted venous access ports in order to maintenance catheter patency. With the successful use of a reduced concentration of heparin (10 units/ml versus 100 units/ml) for the monthly flush‐lock, a new policy has been implemented that helps to reduce patients' exposure to heparin and thus its potential health hazards.…”