Outcome of Intracavitary Electrocardiogram Guidance in PICC Tip Placement in Preterm Infants: A Single-center Experience of 327 Cases

A tertiary neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in China has carried out a study investigating the safety and accuracy of intracavitary electrocardiogram (IC-ECG) guidance in PICC tip placement in preterm infants. From October 2015 to September 2018, IC-ECG-guidance was applied in 327 preterm infants in our NICU. The positioning of the PICC was performed under ECG-guidance and subsequently assessed by chest X-ray. The frequency of correct ECG-guided PICC-placement in one single attempt, premature infants gender, weight, weeks’ gestational age at PICC insertion was recorded. 327preterm infants（207 male and 120 female）were included in the study with a gestation of 31.3 weeks (25.3 to 36.8) and birth weight of 1498 g (600 to 2560). 327 PICCs tip placement was guided with IC-ECG, all concordant with chest X-ray. 313 (95.7%) were correctly positioned, 228 (72.3%) were correctly positioned on the first attempt, 5 were incorrectly identified to have a short line and 9 were malpositioned. The most commonly punctured vein was the basilic vein (n=228), followed by the superficial temporal vein (n = 31), the axillary vein (n = 25). For 3 years IC-ECG method has proved to be a simple, safe, quick method to assess the correct positioning of the PICC in preterm infants. This is a reliable technique, performing real-time manipulation without any complications.