posted
Has anyone ever had significant pain in an arm with an established PICC line that eventually resolved itself without having to have the line removed?
My 14-year-old daughter has had a PICC line for 14 weeks. For the past two days, she has complained of shooting pains up and down her arm, numbness and tingling in her hand, and pain in her chest on PICC line side. The pain started yesterday shortly after she had her blood drawn by home health nurse. By evening it had gone away. Today, it lasted most of the day. We spent the afternoon at the ER. Xray and sonogram were normal. We're waiting for blood cultures to come back.
So, I'm wondering if this kind of pain can happen and then resolve itself, if there's no infection and nothing apparent wrong with the line. Or is it more likely that this is the beginning of the end of this PICC line? In the absence of an infection, how long would you wait to see if the pain resolves?
Posts: 164 | From USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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WildCondor
Unregistered
posted
Is the nurse drawming the blood through the PICC line? If so, that is a big NO NO! My old nurse mucked up my Hickman catherter by taking my blood out of my catheter. BAD IDEA!
Make sure they stick you in a different vein. Poor kid, 14, wow. She is going to need to be one tough and strong determined young woman. I was that old when I first got sick. I wish to God they had known what it was then.
Have your doctor check the PICC line next time you see him/her.
kepp an eye out for anything out of the ordinary like a fever or chills that could indicate PICC line infection. if that does happen, which in some caes, it does, have her get to the ER STAT and have the line puleld in case of sepsis. She's probably fine, but just in case. Stay Strong!
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posted
Yes, the home health nurse always draws blood from the line. In the beginning, it was weekly; now it's every other week. Don't most people with PICC lines have blood drawn from their lines?
It is true, however, that my daughter has found this procedure more and more uncomfortable each time it is done, which is perhaps a clue that it is contributing to the pain in her arm.
Thanks for your thoughts on this. If drawing blood from the line is a significant cause of PICC line problems, it seems that information needs to be made more widely available. I'll be curious to hear if others have had same problem.
Posts: 164 | From USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Hi There, Sorry to hear about your daughter's woes. My LLMD says that blood should NEVER be drawn through a picc line. No exceptions. Regards, Kenny
Posts: 76 | From South Eastern PA | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
I'd call the doctor. What if it is an air bubble or something?
Posts: 120 | Registered: Aug 2004
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arg82
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 161
posted
I tried to find some information on why it's bad to draw blood from PICC lines but found nothing online and a lot of info about people getting blood drawn from the lines and that being a reason to have the line. I personally know someone who has blood drawn from her PICC line on a regular basis (she doesn't have Lyme but other chronic illnesses). What I understand is that drawing blood from a PICC line shortens the life of the line. It does also increase the chances of getting a clot in it just by there being blood in the line.
I have a port-a-cath and I have blood drawn from it weekly for labs but I think that since it's a bigger line and has a shorter catheter it's not as dangerous. My port has been in for almost a year and a half and I've had no problems with it at all with all the blood draws I've had (they haven't been weekly for the whole time and there was a while where I didn't have labs drawn from it at all).
Sorry I can't be more helpful. Be cautious and if there's a chance of infection or another problem, I'd say it's not worth chancing it and the line should be replaced.
timaca
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6911
posted
I've had a picc line in for 5 months. I have had weekly blood draws out of it. After the blood draw, the "extension" tubing and "end" of the picc line are changed out for a fresh line, and it is flushed with NS and heparin.
I've had no trouble with my picc, except for last week, when it was infusing sporadically. That seems to have been a positional issue, for after stretching my arm way to the back of me, it's infused just fine the last 2 times.
Best wishes to your daughter.
Posts: 2872 | From above 7,000 ft in a pine forest | Registered: Feb 2005
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NP40
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6711
posted
My 15 year old had his PICC for 5 months, and he waited on pins and needles for the day that the IV nurse would pull it out. Guess what ? It wouldn't come out ! Went to the ER, and they couldn't get it out, and they won't force it.
Finally, got into the radiology dept. the next day, and they got it. They told us that it's very common in children with PICC's that the vein will close tightly around the line. They actually gave my son nitro under his tongue to loosen the vein and get it out.
Posts: 1632 | From Northern Wisconsin | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
My kids have PICC lines and have their weekly blood draws from the line. They had their PICC lines for 6 months.
Their PICC lines have been used for sedation for a lumbar puncture. Jordan's has been used for 2 ACTH stimulation tests and for his angiogram/venogram.
NP40 - Jake's line was plugged (not a clot) and was replaced in the ER. I remembered your son's story and was afraid it might happen to him. Fortunately, it came out with very little effort.
-------------------- Peggy
~ ~ Hope is a powerful medicine. ~ ~ Posts: 2775 | From MN | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
My daughter's PICC line came out today. The pain was getting worse each day. Today she had chills and said it felt like someone was stabbing her with a needle in her arm near her PICC line. By afternoon, we got a positive blood culture result from our trip to the ER on Monday. Back to oral Zithromax. Still on Plaquenil and Mepron. We'll see what happens.
Posts: 164 | From USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
So glad you got your daughter to the hospital and her PICC line removed. Anyone with symptoms like she had should have it checked immediately. It was obviously infected--which can be worse than Lyme Disease itself. As far as drawing blood from a PICC, as an oncology nurse, we often draw blood from a PICC almost dailyfor months. I have never heard of a reason not to. Usually when a PICC stops working, it is because someone didn't flush it properly after using it. Hope your daughter is doing ok now . . .
Posts: 114 | From Seaside, Calif. | Registered: Oct 2001
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