Usefulness of a peripherally inserted central catheter for total parenteral nutrition in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS: Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) have been widely used as a blood access route for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in recent years. However, there have been few reports that evaluated the usefulness of PICC for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In this study, we compared the clinical courses in patients with IBD who received TPN during their hospitalization by conventional central venous catheters (CVC) and PICC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 137 IBD patients were enrolled. The CVC group and the PICC group included 56 and 81 patients, respectively. The clinical courses in both groups were compared retrospectively.

RESULTS: As a complication of the puncture, pneumothorax occurred in two patients (3.6%) in the CVC group, but in none (0%) in the PICC group. The PICC group had significantly higher rates of achieving the scheduled TPN without removing the catheter, lower rates of catheter-related blood stream infection (CRBSI) and longer periods without CRBSI than the CVC group.

CONCLUSION: PICC might be more useful than CVC in terms of safety and the ability to deliver scheduled TPN for IBD patients.