Lost Catheters

A patient who needs a prolonged transfusion or intravenous feeding of any kind normally has no difficulty in getting it. His doctor slips a needle into the vein and threads a thin polyethylene tube (catheter) through the needle into the bloodstream. The needle is then removed, the catheter taped down so that it will not pull out, and the flow of fluid continued as long as required. Occasionally, however, this procedure can have tragic complications.

Bits of the catheter, having been cut by the edge of the needle, can break off and get lost in the vein. Writing in the December issue of GP, Dr. Carl Northcutt of Stuttgart, Ark., relates the case of a 61-year-old male patient who was having a catheter inserted. It was noted that a Hinch piece of it had broken off. A tourniquet was quickly applied to head off the lost piece, but it could not be found. Four weeks later the patient went into shock and died, apparently of other causes. But the missing bit of catheter was coiled in his heart's right auricle. Dr. Northcutt sadly concludes that the inside bevel edge of the insertion needle should be as dull as possible and that all catheter manufacturers should impregnate the tubing with a substance detectable by X ray.

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