Date Time
Large catheters, small veins, increase blood clot risk for cancer patients
A world-first study led by the University of South Australia has found that cancer patients receiving chemotherapy intravenously have more than double the risk of developing a blood clot or thrombosis if the vein is too small and the catheter occupies more than 45 per cent of the vein.
The finding, published in the British Medical Journal Open, is the first time that catheter-vein ratios (CVRs) have been studied in different patient groups to determine the risk of thrombosis depending on how much the catheter obstructs blood flow.