We once had a home care patient who kept her PICC for 4 years. She came in
when the catheter developed a small tear (can you imagine, in just 4 years?)
Of course the site was very well healed. The rads swapped it out over a
wire and the second PICC lasted her another 4 years. I've never heard of a
time limit, but if anyone knows of any studies I'm all ears...
Nancy Costa CRNI
----- Original Message -----
From: "Corkhill, Melody" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 9:44 AM
Subject: guidewire exchanges...
Does anyone have in their policy a time frame for guidewire exchanges, ie:
how long is too long?! If a PICC has been in place for ???
hours/weeks/month(s) can it be exchanged safely? Are there any
articles/guidelines/studies on this topic? Thanks.
Melody Corkhill
