PICC lines

[stnurse421]

I am currently in my Pedi. rotation and had the opportunity to observe a PICC line insertion for a 10 day old little girl last week. It was very interesting to watch. I did research on PICC lines to find out exactly what they are. I was wondering if anyone could tell me about any experiences with PICC lines.

Thanks!:)

[nurs4kids]

Our PICC nurses do not use U/S...only CXR confirmation after placement. Ours are typically placed under sedation, not necessarily in the OR.

[matchel]

Has anyone seen a peripheral PICC line inadvertantly placed into an artery? I heard about this recently and wondered if it was a common issue. I see nothing about it in the complications of insertion.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I can't say that I've seen a PICC in an artery but I've seen more than a few short-term central lines (and a few PIVs) put into arteries. This is usually recognized right away (unless the kid's in serious shock it's pretty obvious) and the line is converted to an arterial line instead. We've only just started to see PICCs placed in our PICU (most of them have been placed in the OR or in fluoro) so I suspect we may see this happen eventually.