The use of a hydrodynamic bench for experimental simulation of flushing venous catheters: impact on the technique

Abstract

Venous catheters have to be steadily flushed during or after or between intravenous therapies using syringes and thus needing a motion of the hand to push the syringe plunger that can be responsible for a less efficient process. The aim of the study is to show, from experimental simulations, that the dynamic of the flow can have a marked effect on the kinetic of desadhesion of deposit along the duct. The method consists to impose permanent or intermittent controlled flow conditions in a transparent rectangular test section thus permitting easy observation and real time video recording of the desadhesion processes. Evaporating a suitable solid suspension previously carries out a special solid deposit. The results, although qualitative, show that the nature of the flow have a marked influence on the kinetic of desadhesion of the solid deposit. Namely, in identical conditions, a pulsed component of the flow leads to a significative reduction of the time scale of desadhesion during the first moments of the flushing. This preliminary approach leads to the conclusion that the efficiency of the flushing is clearly dependent on the time characteristic of the flow. The flushing fluid volume being fixed by the syringe volume, the definition of a strict protocol is then of prior importance for obtaining a reproducible optimized and standardized motion of the hand.