Incidence and acute complications of asymptomatic central venous catheter-related deep venous thrombosis in critically ill children

Objective: To determined the current incidence and acute complications of asymptomatic central venous catheter (CVC)-related deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in critically ill children.

Study design: We performed a prospective cohort study in 3 pediatric intensive care units. A total of 101 children with newly inserted untunneled CVC were included. CVC-related DVT was diagnosed using compression ultrasonography with color Doppler.

Results: Asymptomatic CVC-related DVT was diagnosed in 16 (15.8%) children, which equated to 24.7 cases per 1000 CVC-days. Age was independently associated with DVT. Compared with children aged <1 year, children aged >13 years had significantly higher odds of DVT (aOR, 14.1, 95% CI, 1.9-105.8; P = .01). Other patient demographics, interventions (including anticoagulant use), and CVC characteristics did not differ between children with and without DVT. Mortality-adjusted duration of mechanical ventilation, a surrogate for pulmonary embolism, was statistically similar in the 2 groups (22 ± 9 days in children with DVT vs 23 ± 7 days in children without DVT; P = .34). Mortality-adjusted intensive care unit and hospital lengths of stay also were similar in the 2 groups.

Conclusion: Asymptomatic CVC-related DVT is common in critically ill children. However, the acute complications do not seem to differ between children with and without DVT. Larger studies are needed to confirm these results. Future studies should also investigate the chronic complications of asymptomatic CVC-related DVT.