Printed in IJ.S.A Catheter-Related Complications in 35 Children and Adolescents with Gastrointestinal Disease on Home Parenteral Nutrition

ABSTRACT. A 7-year experience with home parenteral nu-trition (HPN) in 35 children and adolescents suffering from severe gastrointestinal diseases is reported. The average dura-tion of HPN was 577 days with a mean of 2.9 catheters per patient. There was a total of 82 episodes of proven catheter-related sepsis, an average of 1.5 septic episodes per patient year. In about half of these instances, the catheter had to be removed. Coagulase-negative and-positive staphylococci were the most common organisms isolated. All four Candida infec-tions led to removal of the catheter. Children requiring HPN from early infancy had a higher frequency of catheter-related infections than those started on HPN after the first year of life. In four cases, clinically significant thrombotic complica-tions occurred. The results suggest that even under optimal conditions of catheter placement and with extensive educatio