# PICC/Central lines...anyones baby have them?



## sandrass

My baby was not born premature so I hope Im not intruding but I am having trouble finding answers. Was anyones baby here placed on a PICC line? My baby is now and I am so scared and worried for her.

Thanks.


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## keldac

They tried to put one of these lines in Mikayla but were unable to. Instead they operated and put lines in her belly. She is healthy and fine now x


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## Laura2919

I dont know if it is the same thing but Jaycee had a long line inserted! I dont know much about it cos I wasnt there when they done it. their dad was! If its the same thing then she had it out on day 8 because she was transferred up to a hospital and they didnt take babies with long lines! She needed it out and she wasnt in need of it anymore!


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## _Vicky_

Fynn was on a long line for nearly three weeks and nil by mouth on TPN is that the same thing? It was very scary as the line was in his head :-( but he wasnt bothered by it at all - HTH xxx


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## Laura2919

_Vicky_ said:


> Fynn was on a long line for nearly three weeks and nil by mouth on TPN is that the same thing? It was very scary as the line was in his head :-( but he wasnt bothered by it at all - HTH xxx

It must be the same thing hun! Seems like it anyway! Jaycee had a long line in her foot. it made me go weak when they pulled it out.. How the hell did they put it in!! I werent there then but their dad was!! Ergh! horrible! :nope:


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## Gabrielle

The line most of you are talking about in the head and foot...would be an Intravenous line. The line sandrass is talking about is a PICC /Central line which is placed into an artery. These go straight to the heart, instead of veins which go through the body and back to the heart.

A picc line is generally place in the interior part of the upper arm. A central line is typically place in the carotidid(neck), thigh, or sometimes on the chest wall. These lines are put in a very sterile field and doctors are required to put them in. These lines are used for crictical patients or patients requiring many lab draws, medications, or long term use. 

Sandrass, My preemies never required a Picc/or central line, but personally I had one due to hyperemesis. I also am an RN so know some information on them.

First of, if you dont mind, why does she have a PICC line? The most important thing is to always keep the line clean and free of germs. If a picc line gets infected that is a very serious thing. Signs would be swelling/reddness around the site, increased pain, fever. These are signs that something maybe infected. I'm sure they told you this, so sorry if I am repeating what they said. 

PICC lines can be scary but they are very benificial, depending on the reason for it. Sometimes I think babies should recieves these if they know it's going to be a long stay. Because venous lines need to be changed every 4 days and they can go bad very easily. With the Picc line it's just one poke!

If you have any ?'s feel free to respond. I hope I've been some help. Hugs to you and your baby.


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## MandaAnda

Maybe it's different in the US/Canada (although having a bit of experience accessing them in the US, I'm pretty positive it's not- FWIW, I'm a RN (child branch) in the NICU), but a central line here in the UK is venous...a central venous line (PICC = peripherally inserted central catheter). They are frequently placed in feet/ankles, forearms/upper arms and in the head. They're often called long lines because, unlike an IV, the catheter is longer and is threaded all the way to the superior vena cava so that they sit just outside the heart. X-ray confirms placement before they're used (they're pulled back or advanced if need be). Because of the location of the tip of the catheter, sterile procedure is used when placing and accessing it. A clear dressing is put over the site so that it can be monitored while remaining sterile. As Vicky said, it's often used if a baby is on TPN (high concentrations of glucose can't be tolerated in peripheral veins). They can also be of use if a baby or child has peripheral veins that aren't easily accessible. It shouldn't be be any more painful than an IV insertion, and hopefully they'll give baby sucrose beforehand, as it has an analgesic effect.

(Arterial lines are completely different, and with neonates they tend to be accessed through the umbilical stump where they are kept patent, used to measure arterial blood pressure and sometimes to sample arterial blood; drugs don't tend to be given via an arterial line. This is known as the UAC and any umbilical venous access the UVC.)


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## Olivias_mum

Olivia had a long line that went from her wrist, right up her arm and stopped just outside her heart. They used to ''tissue'' and would need replacing nearly everyday for about a month.She has TPN burns where the TPN would leak because the lines tissued and her line got infected. They arent nice but as long as they are kept really clean they dont usually cause alot of trouble xx


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## keldac

(Arterial lines are completely different, and with neonates they tend to be accessed through the umbilical stump where they are kept patent, used to measure arterial blood pressure and sometimes to sample arterial blood; drugs don't tend to be given via an arterial line. This is known as the UAC and any umbilical venous access the UVC

This is what Mikayla had - only because they couldn't insert a long line through her arm due to hypothermia and veins being to cold and closed (she was intentionally put into a hypothermic state) her tpn was put through her umbilical as well (nit usual practice I was told) :hugs:


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## BrittLeblanc

My little baby boy was born at 25 weeks and he does have a picc line.


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## BrittLeblanc

The picc line is pretty much an iv but it sits right by the heart from my understanding or at least this is what i was told when they placed my sons picc line.


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## Laura2919

I am still unsure what Jaycee had. Is hers the same thing then lol?


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## Lottie86

Findlay has had a PICC, a central and a Hickman line


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## sandrass

I just wanted to update...Alessa came home a couple weeks ago after her central line was taken out. It was a line that went through the inside of her thigh to a main artery to her heart.

She is doing well now.

It was a very scary experience and my heart definitely goes out to all of you waiting for your little ones to come home :hugs: I now know how horrible it is to have to visit your child in the NICU with scary lines plugged all over them.

Also for the person who asked why she was there, she was born with a blood infection (she was septic) due to my waters slowly leaking for over 5 days and the hospital not believing me. Then, she wasnt eating properly so they were tube feeding her.


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## vermeil

hello!

my little 27 week miracle has had a NICC since birth 5 weeks ago. It`s used for HAIV (err gee I only know the acronyms in french, hmm... hyper nutrition by IV), antibiotics, lipids, saline, transfusions, platelets etc etc. I`m rather glad he has it so they don`t have to keep installing new IVs. At one point he had the NICC, two other IVs and they were taking blood samples from his head. ugh. And yes they keep it super sterile and disinfect even the tubing every day in case.


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## AngiRN

I have not had a baby in the last 21 years but I am an Infusion Therapy nurse and place PICC lines. A PICC line is a percutaneous (peripherally) inserted central catheter. They are very safe and so much better for babies and children than to be poked so many times trying to get the small peripheral IV sites. Like someone else on here said the most important thing is to keep them clean and watch for signs of infection. 
These PICC lines do not go into an artery they go into a vein and are threaded from insertion site to where the tip is just before the right atrium of the heart in either the Superior Vena Cava vein or the Inferior Vena Cava vein depending on the insertion site. On adults we place them in one of 3 veins usually and all are in the upper arm. On infants however you place them in the thigh and it threads up the Inferior Vena Cava vein. 
They are placed with ultrasound so when the nurse places it they are watching on the screen exactly where the vein is and where their needle is at. 
I was not aware however that they could place these in a babies scalp vein and thread them down but I was just reading some things on the internet and discovered that apparently it has been done. I am going to research this farther and see what I can find out. 

Sorry if I gave you too much information but I felt like you needed to know what was going on with your baby and that this is a good thing for her. If you have any further questions feel free to contact me.


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