VenaTrac™ device for over-the-wire placement of chronic dialysis catheters.

The VenaTrac™ is designed for exchange and primary placement of chronic tunneled hemodialysis catheters over a wire. It occludes both lumens of the catheter for the purpose of reducing the risk of air embolism and blood loss. The purpose of this paper is to report our experience with the use of this device. A retrospective review of chronic hemodialysis dialysis catheters exchanges over a 30-month period was performed. Two hundred and ninety-seven over-the-wire catheter exchanges and 47 primary placements using the VenaTrac™ device were reviewed. In addition, 430 over-the-wire catheter exchanges without the use of the VenaTrac™ were reviewed. No insertional complications or air embolism occurred when using the VenaTrac™. Symptomatic air embolism was documented in 5 out of 430 catheter exchanges performed without the use of VenaTrac™ (1.2%). VenaTrac™ over-the-wire insertion device demonstrated safe and reliable use with no incidence of air embolism.