The possibilities and dangers of longterm infusion therapy in severely ill newborn and premature infants.

The development of pediatric intensive medicine in the past 10 years has today made it possible to carry out specific longterm infusion therapy even in severely ill newborn and premature infants. The present study discusses the various technical possibilities and indications for the introduction of a caval catheter in newborn and premature infants. Although we only used a caval catheter for longterm parenteral nutrition in 9 newborn infants from 1965 to 1969, improved techniques have enabled us over the past 2 years to choose this method in 43 newborn and premature infants presenting with a wide variety of clinical conditions. We conclude that the use of caval catheters still requires a very strong indication.