What are your parameters, for the INR and platelets for pulling central venous catheters? We are changing our policy and I was wondering what others are doing in their practice. I have read few articles on the subject and what we are going to do differs greatly from what I was used to doing in the past. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Never seen any studies addressing this and never worked with such a policy. The risk of different for a PICC vs other CVADs. I would not hesitate to pull a PICC even with high INR or low platelets. When a CVAD needs to be removed, it needs to come out to reduce risk of other complications. So these lab values would need to be considered but I don't think you can write a policy preventing removal with bad values. You have to do a risk vs benefit assessment for each patient.
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, NPD-BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861
Thank you Lynn. I, too, did not see any studies on this subject and was stymied as to why we were changing our values. I appreciate your expertise and input.