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ebalinsat
port a cath needle & dressing change

Hello everyone, this is a querry of when to change the huber needle. In our hospital we all agree to change the huber needle with dressing changes every week but a  question arised when the dressing needs to be changed frequently because  the patient is diaphoretic , can the dressing be changed  more frequently than the huber needle? i.e. the dressing is removed carefully, then with sterile procedure cleansed the skin with the needle in place with chlorhexidine just like having a catheter in place and replaced with another dressing then secure, this saves the patient from frequent access. This is only for some special situation but does this practice make sense??

Your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated

thank you,

elvie

Sacramento CA

Donna Fritz
Yes, can be done without
Yes, can be done without needle reaccess when necessary for the situation you describe.  It is close to impossible to clean underneath whatever safety device the non-coring needle utilizes, however.  Whether a disk or wings or whatever, it lies so close to the skin surface.  So it seems that we are left with cleaning the non-coring needle device itself and the area from the device outward to the perimeter.
MarkCVL
The dressing can be changed
The dressing can be changed around the needle but now remember that the initial date on the dressing was also for the needle.  I ask staff to mark the date on both the dressing and the extension from the huber needle (outside the bandage).  This way you alway know the date the the huber needle must be changed (Q7 days...most cases)
kmills
We do change the dressing
We do change the dressing more often if needed but are careful to note the date when the needle needs changed.
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