Prior recommendations for ethanol locks have favored silicone central lines over polyurethane due to concerns of increased breakage rates when ethanol locks are used with polyurethane catheters. However, a recent small study indicates that this may be incorrect.

K LaRusso et al. JPEN https://doi.org/10.1002/jpen.2056. Prolonged Use of Ethanol Lock Prophylaxis With Polyurethane Catheters in Children With Intestinal Failure: A Single‐Center Experience (Reference from Conrad Cole’s twitter feed)

A 10‐year retrospective study with 10 children comprising 85 CVCs and 13,227 catheter days

Key findings:

• Breakages were the most common complication: polyurethane 1.46/1000 vs silicone 3.76/1000 catheter days. Silicone catheters had a significantly higher breakage rate (adjusted rate ratio [RR], 2.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.84–2.88; P < .001)
• Polyurethane catheters had higher rates of occlusion (adjusted RR, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.07–0.28; P < .001) and displacements.
• There were no differences in the overall catheter replacement rates and any other catheter‐related outcomes.

Related blog post: Central Line Pointers

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