Comparing Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters to Long Peripheral Catheters for Non-central Vascular Access Indications - a Clinical Effectiveness Pilot Trial in Pediatrics

Hospitalized children frequently require a vascular access device (VAD) for delivery of life saving interventions such as intravenous fluids and antibiotics. Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters (PICCs) are central VADs frequently used in hospitalized children for prolonged vascular access, or to administer solutions not compatible with peripheral infusion. However, PICC related complications such as venous thromboembolism (VTE) and central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) have triggered exploration of safer alternatives. Long Peripheral Catheters (LPCs) are peripheral VADs recently adopted for medium-term vascular access (5-14 days) and peripherally compatible infusate, due to potential for fewer complications compared to PICCs. However, there is a scarcity of literature on the effective and safe use of LPCs in pediatrics. To reduce the use of PICCs when central venous access is not required (i.e., infusate is peripherally compatible), feasible alternatives for vascular access need to be identified and tested. Until clinicians and other stakeholders are given effective alternatives for durable vascular access and evidence-based tools for VAD selection, central VAD related complications will remain a critical concern, placing children at risk for harm and increasing healthcare costs.

The overall objective of this application is to test the feasibility of a full-scale effectiveness trial comparing PICCs to LPCs and identify a population in which a LPC would be a safe and effective alternative to a PICC. In a prior study, our group showed that as many as 139 PICCs over a one-year period were placed at our local institution in children that (1) did not require central venous access for administration of peripherally incompatible infusate, (2) had the VAD in for < 14 days, and (3) did not discharge home with the VAD, but because of PICC placement for vascular access these children were at risk for CLABSI and VTE. The pediatric population satisfying the above conditions is the target of our pilot trial. A LPC program was introduced at our local institution in 2019 with initiation in the intensive care units and plans to expand the program to the whole hospital by the fall of 2021. In our initial group of 20 successfully placed LPCs, there were no severe complications (VTE and CLABSI).

The aims of this pilot, randomized controlled trial are:

Aim 1: To assess the feasibility of a full-scale effectiveness trial comparing PICCs to LPCs in hospitalized pediatric patients in need of non-central, medium-term vascular access (5-14 days anticipated need).

Hypothesis: Feasibility of a full-scale effectiveness trial will be established by demonstrating that > 70% of eligible patients agree to enrollment and randomization, > 80% of randomized patients receive the assigned intervention, > 80% of providers involved find the study acceptable, and < 5% of data are missing.