Temporary central line related thrombosis in a pediatric intensive care unit in central Saudi Arabia. Two-year incidence and risk factors

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence of temporary central venous line (CVL) related thrombosis among the pediatric population of critical care units, and to determine the possible predictors for developing CVL thrombosis.

METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of patients </=14 years of age who were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 2009 to 2011 was performed. The patients were recruited using the PICU admission database, and the infection control unit database.

RESULTS: In 2 years, there were 1,361 admissions to the PICU. Only 248 patients required a central line for acute management. Twenty-one (8.5%) patients developed a thrombosis. The risk of thrombosis increased with multiple insertions of the central line compared with a single central line insertion (95% confidence interval: 2.339-16.667; p=0.0003).

CONCLUSION: Among all predictors, the number of CVLs was the only significant predictor of CVL thrombosis. Patients with multiple CVLs are at 6.2 times higher risk of developing thrombosis compared with those with a single CVL.