Preventing complications from lines and tubes.

Rather than providing an exhaustive list of known complications of all tubes and lines used in the NICU, we have highlighted the potentially traumatic nature of their use and outlined general principles of prevention. Most complications of care are more easily avoided if we know about them in advance. Attention to simple details, while recognizing that use of indwelling tubes and lines has both benefits and hazards, should lessen some of these morbidities.