Flushing Strategies for Totally Implantable Venous Access Devices in Nurse-Led Cancer Care: Exploratory Randomized Clinical Trial

Aim (s): To examine catheter-related complications across different flushing strategies for totally implantable venous access devices when care is delivered through a standardized, nurse-led, protocol-driven framework.

Design

A single-center, prospective, exploratory, randomized, single-blind, three-arm parallel-group clinical trial.

Results

Among 192 participants, catheter-related complications were rare across all groups. One occlusion occurred in the 10 mL saline group, no occlusions occurred in the 20 mL saline or heparin lock groups, minor bleeding occurred in three participants, and no catheter-related bloodstream infections or severe adverse events were reported. The very low number of events precluded meaningful comparative inference between flushing strategies.