Percutaneous Hickman catheter placement in the radiology suite

Abstract

The tunneled Hickman catheter is widely used to provide long-term central venous access for administration of chemotherapy, antibiotics, and fluids and for hemodialysis.1,2 These catheters have traditionally been placed surgically either by means of a cutdown on the cephalic or internal or external jugular veins3,4 or by gaining percutaneous access to the subclavian or internal jugular veins.5-7 We have placed 75 Hickman catheters percutaneously through the internaljugular vein in an interventional radiology suite and present our technique and results. We believe the percutaneous technique considerably reduces operative time, and, when performed in the radiology suite, enables optimal use of angiographic vascular access techniques.