Background: Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) are routinely placed in hospitalized patients who are receiving long-term IV antibiotics or who have poor venous access. In our hospital, 1 in 12 patients on the Medicine service receives a PICC line at some point during a hospitalization. 35% of all hospital-acquired venous thromboembolisms (VTEs) on the Medicine [...]

Background: Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) are associated with central vein stenosis and failure to establish a functioning arteriovenous fistula. Thus, guidelines recommend avoiding PICC placement when patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are likely to require hemodialysis. We sought to describe the current practice of PICC placement in hospitalized patients with an estimated glomerular [...]

Background: Vascular access is an integral part of inpatient care. Difficult access can result in delays and inappropriate access selection or technical placement can have quality and financial implications, particularly those associated with catheter-line associated blood stream infections (CLABSI). At our institution, vascular access had historically been provider driven resulting in non-standardized selection practices with [...]