Parte V. Cuidados de enfermería sobre los catéteres de hemodiálisis ; Part V. Nursing care for hemodialysis catheters

Artículo de publicación ISI ; Nursing care of a hemodialysis catheter is critical to avoid morbidity, mortality and costs associated to infectious complications. The first step is to provide access through an arteriovenous fistula or, alternatively by a central tunneled catheter instead of a conventional central venous catheters due to their lower risk of infectious complications. During connection and disconnection procedures both the healthcare personnel and the patient must wear a surgical mask, hand hygiene should be applied and clean or sterile gloves must be used. Lines should be disinfected by rubbing with 70% alcohol solution and connection protected with sterile gauze. During exit site care, surgical mask and sterile or clean gloves should also be used by healthcare personnel and patients, hand hygiene applied and an antiseptic solution applied to the zone. These measures have proven to be effective for reducing infectious complications associated to hemodialysis catheters.