Central Venous Access Devices - The Royal Marsden

Central venous access devicesWhat are the disadvantages of a PICC?• The dressing needs to be changed once a week by a carer/relative or nurse• You can’t go swimming with a PICC and it may restrict youcontinuing with other vigorous sporting activities.• It cannot be used for any nuclear medicine test injections andmay only be used for CT or MRI scan injections in certaincircumstances.How is the catheter inserted?VeinCatheterClampInjectioncapHeartDiagram of a PICCA nurse or doctor will locate your vein using an ultrasound machineand then inject a local anaesthetic to remove the sensation from theskin over the vein. A small cannula is inserted into the vein and thenan introducer is inserted through which the catheter is threadeduntil the tip is in the correct position. The introducer is thenremoved and only the catheter is left. A special device is clipped tothe PICC to secure it in place on the skin.5