Experience with the Hickman catheter: unusual complications and suggestions for their prevention.

With the expanding clinical use of the Hickman catheter, new complications have emerged. This report describes two such complications: one in an adult with postplacement malposition and a second in a child with a ballooning double-lumen catheter. The risk of postplacement malposition can be reduced by placing the catheter's tunnel as medial as possible; the risk of material malfunction can be reduced by careful quality control and careful surgical technique.