Is there a better way to maintain the central line dressing on the skin of a patient who is third spacingand weeping? This patient's dressing needs to be changed minimally Q4hrs. Is there a dressing that someone could recommend? We have found some success with the use of the CHG impregnated dressing for less extreme cases.
Is this a systemic problem? Or is this weeping only at this site? If only at this site, you need to confirm the cause and possibly will need to change the site. I have never seen weeping from third spacing only at the insertion site. Fluid can leak for many reasons. If this is a systemic problem and it is occuring all over the patient's body, what is being done for other sites? Most use a CHG dressing on all patients. You may have to change to a different type of dressing. If there is no way to stop this weeping at this site, I don't know of any dressing that will maintain integrity in this amount of moisture. YOu might need to consult with a wound care specialist as they are the skin experts.
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
i just evaluated this problem on a patient with a PICC RUE. the site itself was clean. no s/s of infection. it was weeping and dressing changes were being done about q4h. the insertion site was a bit eroded (i call them craters due to length of time in and poor skin turgor). What i did was clean, redress with biopatch, 4 x 4 and soft tape. i also recommended the site be elevated at all times to reduce swelling in the arm. this particular patient had anasarca, liver failure, poor proteins, low albumin, FTT. it eventually stopped weeping in about 24 hours and we placed the usual biopatch and transparent. just what worked for me.