Central venous lines in haemophilia

Infections and technical problems are the most frequent complications when using implantable central venous access devices in patients with haemophilia. There are two major experiences reported concerning infections in noninhibitor patients: one is approximately 0.2 infections per 1000 days and the other approximately 1.0 (0.7-1.6) per 1000 days. Infections are more frequent in inhibitor patients and approximately one infection per 6-12 months of use can be expected. The figures are low for clinically apparent thrombosis in the larger series on record, but routine venograms were not carried out in most of these series. In studies where this has been done, a high frequency of abnormalities on venograms has been seen in some but not in others. The final decision to use a central line has to take into account the medical goal, the patient's bleeding tendency, the social situation and the expected risk of complications at the particular haemophilia centre. Some of the complications may be reduced by adequate aseptic measures both during implantation and in subsequent use, and by clear basic routines for surveillance of the systems and repeated education of the users.