Material thrombogenicity in central venous catheterization III. A comparison between soft polyvinylchloride and soft polyurethane elastomer, long, antebrachial catheters.

Soft venous catheters, 36 made of polyurethane (PU) and 37 made of polyvinylchloride (PVC), were inserted in 73 patients via basilic and cephalic veins punctured at the cubital fossa, and compared regarding their thrombogenicity. The mean duration of catheterization was 12.5 days. Two patients with PU- and six patients with PVC-catheters developed clinical thrombophlebitis 4-36 days after insertion. The radiological thrombi were rather small with both PU- and PVC-catheters in both peripheral and central veins with no significant difference between the catheters. Also, the incidence of thrombosis and the rate of catheter occlusions were similar. The surface topography of the PVC-catheters was relatively smoother, but less uniform than that of the PU-catheters. Platelet adhesion in vitro to the catheter surfaces, expressed as ATP-concentration in relation to catheter area after contact with human blood, was relatively low with both catheters. The results suggest that soft PU- and PVC-catheters have a similar thrombogenicity.