Catheter explantation

The catheter can be left in place for as long as you need it. Sometimes you may need to remove the catheter. When there is less than 50 ml of fluid on three consecutive drainages, one of the following examples may be the cause:

  • The course of the patient’s disease can cause ascites or pleural effusion to stop accumulating.
  • A pleurodesis has occurred.
  • The catheter is in a pocket without fluid.
  • There is an occlusion in the catheter, and flushing has not restored flow.

If you then need to remove the catheter, we recommend the following procedure:

Procedure for explantation of indwelling catheter

  1. Check bleeding parameters.
  2. Prepare a workplace under sterile conditions.
  3. Position the patient so that you can easily access the catheter.
  4. Generously apply local anaesthetic at the catheter exit site (wait until it has worked).
  5. Identify with your fingers the location of the polyester cuff (thicker part).
  6. Make an incision in the skin directly at the exit site of the catheter. Use a blunt hemostatic forceps or similar to release the cuff by circular movements around the cuff. Only the cuff of the catheter grows into the subcutaneous tissue, but there may be aggravating circumstances due to catheter position or tumour growth.
  7. One hand is gently placed over the tunneled part as resistance and the catheter is pulled out with the other hand. If the entire catheter can’t be pulled out, an additional incision is made at the end of the tunneled section. For orientation, the skin sutures at the puncture site can help. Then the part of the catheter that goes into the body can be removed separately.
  8. Finally, skin sutures at the incision(s).
  9. Dressing

Do you have any questions?

Here are some of our frequently asked questions.

FAQ