Venous Catheterization Experimental Model in Rabbits: Histological Alterations in the Catheter Region

Abstract

Central venous access is one of the most common surgery procedures worldwide, especially in pediatric surgery. Local and regional complications as the result of venous catheter permanence time are frequently described as: thrombosis, infection, edema and local cellulite, movement and loss of the catheter. Other severe complications such as endocardiac and hemorrhagic lesions are also described and considered the cause of catheter early removal. In the literature few studies have addressed vascular and perivascular lesions and complications as the result of central venous access to peripheral veins, given the difficulty of setting up venous catheterization experimental models to study blood vessels and perivascular tissue alterations after catheterization. In the present venous catheterization experimental model, rabbits were divided into two groups based on the time that the venous catheters were maintained in their veins. Group a composed of 7 New Zealand male rabbits was submitted to a 15-day treatment; and the 6 New Zealand male rabbits of group B were treated during 90 days. Both groups presented similar inflammatory conditions since there was no significant difference between groups. Therefore, the results may well suggest that the endothelial inflammatory reaction could have developed at an early initial short period and by maintaining the catheter, the inflammatory reactions would have decreased or disappeared. Aimed at studying these vascular and perivascular alterations in venous catheterization, the present study proposes an experimental rabbit model that allows the analysis of differences in local vascular and perivascular histological variations and compares histological differences between both venous catheterization groups each of them with different periods of treatment.