Central Venous Catheter: - Vascular Access
Central Venous Catheter
When you are ill, you take medicines orally with water, in some complications you will need drugs to be injected directly into your veins through an intravenous tube (IV). IV is a thin needle-like device that is placed into your arm. For long-term treatment, patients will need a central venous catheter(CVC), also known as a central line.
CVC is a thin tube longer than IV that is connected to a larger central vein in the arm, neck, groin, or chest. One end of the tube is guided into a larger vein and the other end has 2 tubes extending out of the body from the CVC that allows blood out of the body (from the artery) and the other tube allows blood back into the body into the veins.
Internal Port devices are exceptional access systems, which are stationed below the skin and guided into a very large venous catheter to allow access to remove blood from the body for cleansing and then transfer blood back into the body.
Catheters and Internal port devices can be immediately used for dialysis. CVC is preferred over graft or fistula during dialysis.

Book Appointment
End Your Kidney Pain With Us
Feel Free To Reach US
Using CVCs and internal port devices for long-term hemodialysis is not advised by National Kidney Foundation (NKF), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKD) s they have side effects like:
- vulnerable to infections, clots, or failures
- decelerated blood flow during dialysis may not cleanse the blood as completely as in Fistula or graft access process.
- plebian access for long-term hemodialysis
Taking care of CVC and Internal Port
- It’s important to regularly clean and keeps the catheter dry,
- clean the catheter insertion area clean and change the dressing after every dialysis session,
- store an emergency dressing kit at home and learn how to change the dressing in case of emergency
- ensure air doesn’t enter the catheter, never remove the cap
- Shower only if it’s waterproof and has clear dressing and skin around it.