Complications following cava catheterization

The employment of cava catheterization in intensive care and emergency-treatment has dramatically increased. On the basis of our patients in the Surgical Clinics of the RWTH Aachen risks and complications of the central venous catheterization are explained. Six hundred and eighty-four cases have been examined--categorized according to the method of insertion and according to the technique. In a small randomized study, 60 cava catheters were individually examined bacteriologically.