PICC Removal

[nursern07]

I have a question on PICC removal. I know after the MD removes it, the RN needs to measure it. However, I've heard you must measure the tip to the "hub." This confuses me. Some refer to the port (as in the plast piece on the end we clean and flush with the needless saline syringe) as the hub. And others refer to the point in which the lumen break off into double or triple lumens as the hub. Where am I measuring to!? Thanks!

[JCKent]

Typically when you meaure a PICC that has been removed you measure from the hub, where the catheter connects to the "wings" There should be a "0" or a dot at the begining of the catheter. Your measurement should start here and end at the tip of your catheter.

[patwil73]

The picc's we use here have measurement numbers on them - so you look at the end and if it says 45 and the insertion record says 45, then you are good. The numbers go all the way along the picc from 0 to (I'm not really sure the longest length) but they go in increments of 5 and have small dashes in between numbers.

Pat

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

The PICC lines that we use have a black dot and are curved at the tip of the lumen.

We don't measure them, because if your tip is intact, you know you got the whole thing.