Central venous catheter management prior to the start of the dialysis session: a new device to improve a critical procedure.

Background: Central venous catheter (CVC) preparation for a haemodialysis (HD) session is a critical non-standardized manoeuvre. Methods: We compared the procedure in use at our centre (C) versus the use of Haemocatch® (H), a device recently presented for the management of CVC, in 12 patients, with C during 7 dialysis sessions and H during the subsequent 7 sessions. Results: Out of 75 HD sessions with C and 75 with H, both the number of connections and disconnections of the CVC via a syringe and the amount of blood wasted during the manoeuvres proved significantly lower with H (2.19 ± 0.59 for H vs. 4.23 ± 0.78 for C, p = 0.00093; 5.97 ± 2.77 ml for H vs. 14.57 ± 6.3 ml for C, p = 0.000078, respectively). Conclusions: The new device could improve the quality of care in the HD patients carrying a CVC: standardization of the procedure, reduced blood wasting and infection risk.