Current Use of the Pulmonary Artery Catheter and Related Complications during Cardiac Surgery in Japan : a Questionnaire Survey
- VernacularTitle:心臓手術時の肺動脈カテーテル使用と関連合併症に関するアンケート調査
- Author:
Goro MATSUMIYA
1
;
Takaaki SUZUKI
2
;
Hitoshi YOKOYAMA
1
Author Information
- Keywords: pulmonary artery catheter; cardiac surgery; catheter entrapment; pulmonary artery rupture
- From:Japanese Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery 2021;50(1):1-7
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
- Abstract: A recent fatal accident related to the use of the pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) promoted us to conduct a questionnaire survey to assess the current use of the PAC and its complications during cardiac surgery. Methods : A 10-item questionnaire was distributed to all board-certified cardiovascular surgery centers in Japan. Five hundred thirty-two questionnaires were distributed and 325 (61.1%) were returned. Results : Seventy-two percents of hospitals used the PAC in more than 90% of cases, while only 17% used it less than 50% of the time. Indication of its use was not clearly determined in 52% of hospitals. Entrapment of the PAC was experienced in 28% of centers in the last 10 years, and its incidence was calculated as 0.07%. At a quarter of hospitals, checking for PAC to confirm absence of entrapment was not performed during the operation. Pulmonary artery rupture occurred at 22% of hospitals, and its incidence was 0.05%. Agreements on handling PAC to prevent cardiac injury or pulmonary artery rupture were not made in 24 and 56% of hospitals respectively. Conclusion : These data demonstrate that in many of the cardiac surgery centers in Japan, the PAC is still routinely used. Serious complications including catheter entrapment and pulmonary artery injury were encountered in a substantial number of patients. Development of guidelines for PAC during cardiac surgery to limit its use to patients with clear benefits and prevent related complications is warranted.
