Retention of lepirudin at the tip of a silicone catheter: a better catheter flush solution?

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• 作者：McDonaldK. Horne and Elizabeth Inkellis
• 关键词：Catheter ; Flushes ; Lepirudin ; Heparin
• 刊名：Supportive Care in Cancer
• 出版年：2004
• 出版时间：April 2004
• 年：2004
• 卷：12
• 期：4
• 页码：278-281
• 全文大小：156 KB
• 刊物类别：Medicine
• 刊物主题：Medicine & Public Health
  Oncology
  Nursing
  Nursing Management and Research
  Pain Medicine
  Rehabilitation Medicine
  
• 出版者：Springer Berlin / Heidelberg
• ISSN：1433-7339

文摘

Because central venous catheters often become blocked by clot at their tip despite heparin flushes, a more effective anticoagulant is needed. We hypothesize that lepirudin, a recently introduced protein anticoagulant, might be more effective than heparin because of its tendency to adsorb to silicone, a commonly used catheter material. We preliminarily tested this hypothesis in vitro by measuring residual lepirudin and heparin activity at the tip of a catheter that had been submerged in a flowing stream of water for various periods of time. We observed that lepirudin is less readily removed than heparin from the catheter by fluid washing over it. This slow-release property of lepirudin might provide prolonged protection against clot formation at the catheter tip. A clinical trial will be necessary, however, to determine whether this property translates into significant improvement in catheter function.