CENTRAL VEIN CATHETERS - TEMPORARY VASCUL AR ACCESS SOMETIMES PERMANENT

Out of the 427 patients regulary attended to at the Centre d'Hemodialy se du Languedoc Mediterraneen, 144 have required at one stage the use of internal jugular vein for hemodialysis. Subclavian or femoral cathe ters have been resorted to temporarily pending the re-establishment of a pre-existing vascular access, Jugular catheters have been reserved for lasting utilizations thanks to Carnaud's technique using two cathe ters. Gradually the use of such catheters has become imperative to off er vascular access for the treatment of hemodialysis or to create trul y <<permanent>> accesses. This second solution only concerns a limited number of patients either for their private convenience, or when the establishment of an internal access would require a heavy and uncertai n operation.