Reducing risk of air embolism associated with central venous access devices
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Pennsylvania patient safety advisory
- Contributor(s):
- Feil, Michelle. Pennsylvania. Patient Safety Authority. ECRI (Organization) Institute for Safe Medication Practices.
- Publication:
- [Harrisburg, Pa.] : Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, c2012
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Catheterization, Central Venous -- adverse effects Embolism, Air -- prevention & control Risk Management -- methods Catheterization, Central Venous -- methods Documentation Embolism, Air -- epidemiology Embolism, Air -- etiology Humans Pennsylvania United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Air embolism is a rare but potentially lethal complication of certain medical and surgical procedures. Because air embolism is a preventable hospital-acquired condition that can result in serious harm, it has been labeled a serious reportable event with nonpayment for harm by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Between June 2004 and December 2011, the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority received 74 reports related to air embolism. The majority of confirmed or suspected air embolisms were attributed to central venous access devices. The widespread use of these devices, along with a high mortality rate attributed to air embolisms related to central venous access devices, warrants special attention. Hospitals can decrease the risk for air embolism by establishing policies and procedures that contain specific air embolism prevention protocols for central venous access device insertion, management, and removal. Other measures to decrease risk include education and competency certification for staff and equipment safety controls.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101585910 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101585910