Comparison of an Antibiotic Impregnated PICC Catheter Versus a Regular PICC Catheter in a Tertiary Care Setting

To determine whether antibiotic impregnated PICC catheters have a lower infection rate than a conventional PICC catheter in a tertiary care patient population. Secondary goals will be to determine if there is a difference between the two catheters with early and late infections, to determine the cost comparison including extra cost of treatment for a line related infection, to determine if there are any non-infectious related complication differences between the two catheters.

All patients who are referred to VIR for a PICC line will be evaluated to see if they satisfy the inclusion/exclusion criteria. The study will be discussed with those who do and informed consent will be obtained from those wishing to participate. The patient will then be randomized to one of two types of PICC lines. All lines will be placed by identical technique. This will include sterile technique, placement via a vein of the upper arm using ultrasound guidance, and positioning of the catheter tip under fluoroscopic guidance. A database of all catheters placed will be kept. Records will be reviewed at 1 week, 30 days, and 60 days by the Interventional Radiology Fellow.Review will include length of time catheter was in place, whether treatment was completed, whether catheter was removed prematurely, the clinical reason for removal, results of other imaging tests, and results of cultures on any catheters removed for suspicion of infection. Any non-infectious complications related to the catheter will also be noted. The reviewer will be blinded to which catheter was used during the procedure.