Symptomatic Pulmonary Embolus after Catheter Removal in Children with Catheter Related Thrombosis: A Report from the CHAT Consortium.

BACKGROUND Appropriate timing of central venous catheter (CVC) removal, in relation to start of anticoagulation, in children after the diagnosis of a CVC-related thrombosis (CRT) is not well established. OBJECTIVES This retrospective cohort study evaluated the incidence of symptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE) after CVC removal using data from the multi-institutional Children's Hospital-Acquired Thrombosis (CHAT) Consortium Registry. PATIENTS/METHODS The CHAT Registry consists of data from children aged 0-21 years with a hospital-acquired venous thromboembolism. Eligible subjects were those with CRT diagnosed <3 days after CVC removal. Subjects were excluded if the CRT was due to a failed CVC insertion. Subjects were divided into three groups: those with CVC removal without anticoagulation, those with CVC removal <48 hours after starting anticoagulation, and those with CVC removal ≥48 hours after starting anticoagulation. RESULTS A total of 687 CRT events from 663 subjects were included. Majority of CRT events were in subjects with peripherally inserted central catheters (62.3%, n=428). For the 611 CRT events in which the CVC was removed, there was only one case of symptomatic PE (0.16%), which occurred <48 hours after initiation of anticoagulation. CONCLUSIONS While current guidelines suggest anticoagulation before CVC removal in the setting of a CRT to prevent embolization, CVC removal is not associated with symptomatic PE regardless of duration of anticoagulation before CVC removal.