It’s the day to get the Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter, more commonly referred to as a PICC line.
That’s actually me!
Once again things are quite streamlined. I’m brought into the room with an OR like table with the above equipment at my head. I lay down and stick out my left arm. An ultrasound is used to visualize where the vein is and then the area is sterilized and draped.
A local anaesthetic of Lidocane is administered and the insertion procedure begins. The tubing is inserted in the brachial vein of the left arm via a #5 French catheter for a length of 48cm ending at the Cavoatrial junction. The double lumen line contains two separate openings through the same catheter so that two solutions or medications that are not compatible can be given simultaneously.
To finish off the lines are flushed with heparin, a dressing is applied and a Statlock securement device is applied. In the end it looks like this.
In under 30 minutes I’m free to go.
Amazing