Percutaneous translumbar inferior vena cava catheter placement for long-term hemodialysis treatment.

Central venous access for long term dialysis has always been a major difficulty, especially in cases where the traditional sites are no longer available. We present a case of a pediatric patient where the usual sites were occluded and he needed a reliable venous access for his dialysis. The inferior vena cava has been used in adult patients, but no reports were found in the pediatric literature. We chose this site as an alternative for this patient. The catheter was placed via a percutaneous translumbar approach, and remained in place for almost 2 years until the patient received a renal transplant.