The key difference between peripheral and central venous catheter is that peripheral catheter enters the body through a vein close to the surface of the skin, while central venous catheter enters the body through a major vein present deep in the surface of the skin.
With the development of modern medicine and surgery, medical professionals developed different modes of delivery for essential components to the body during critical treatment procedures. Catheters are tubes that are available in different forms. Peripheral and central venous catheters are two types of catheters inserted into the body via a vein, with the main purpose of drug and fluid delivery.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Peripheral Venous Catheter
3. What is Central Venous Catheter
4. Similarities – Peripheral and Central Venous Catheter
5. Peripheral vs Central Venous Catheter in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Peripheral vs Central Venous Catheter
What is Peripheral Venous Catheter?
A peripheral venous catheter is a thin and flexible tube inserted into a peripheral vein for the administration of intravenous therapy. A peripheral venous catheter is usually inserted into a vein on the arm or hand. The catheter is usually inserted into the vein via a needle and slowly removed, leaving the plastic cannula. It is then fixed to the skin using an adhesive dressing.
Figure 01: Peripheral Venous Catheter
Peripheral venous catheters are most commonly used for vascular access in medicine. It is usually used during emergency treatments or in surgical departments. However, there are complications in peripheral venous catheters. Catheter embolism is one such complication. This is an instance where a small portion of the catheter breaks and flows into the bloodstream. This occurs during the removal of the peripheral cannula. In order to minimize the risk of insertion-site infections, a catheter is replaced every four days.
What is Central Venous Catheter?
A central venous catheter is a long flexible tube inserted into a central vein that leads to the vena cava in the administration of drugs, fluids, or blood. The insertion of a central venous catheter takes place at different access points, such as the internal jugular vein in the neck, the subclavian vein in the upper chest, and the common femoral vein in the groin. The requirement for a central venous catheter arises during different medical conditions. They are during blood or platelet transfusion, chemotherapy, hemodialysis, long-term antibiotics, frequent blood draws, etc.
Figure 02: Central Venous Catheter
Central venous catheters are of different types. They are non-tunneled central venous catheters, peripherally inserted central catheters, tunneled central venous catheters, and subcutaneous ports. The placement of a central venous catheter is done by a medical healthcare professional known as a proceduralist. The advantages of central venous catheters include fewer needle insertions, long-term access, and less pain. Complications or disadvantages of central venous catheters are arrhythmias, bleeding, lung collapse, artery or vein damage, thrombosis, air embolism that blocks blood vessels, and narrowing of veins.
What are the Similarities Between Peripheral and Central Venous Catheter?
- Peripheral and central venous catheters are two tubes used for the delivery of fluids.
- Both catheter types involve in the delivery of drugs.
- They may cause embolism and infection.
- Insertion of both types of catheters requires a trained medical professional.
What is the Difference Between Peripheral and Central Venous Catheter?
Peripheral catheter enters the body through a vein close to the surface of the skin, while central venous catheter enters the body through a major vein present deep in the surface of the skin. Thus, this is the key difference between peripheral and central venous catheter. Complications of peripheral venous catheters are thrombosis, bleeding, inflammation, etc. while complications of central venous catheters are arrhythmia, bleeding, lung collapse, artery or vein damage, thrombosis, air embolism, which blocks blood vessels, and narrowing of veins. Moreover, a peripheral catheter tube is a longer and thicker tube, while a central venous catheter tube is comparatively shorter and thin.
The following table summarizes the difference between peripheral and central venous catheter.
Summary – Peripheral vs Central Venous Catheter
Peripheral and central venous catheters are two types of catheters inserted into the body via a vein with the main purpose of drug and fluid delivery. Peripheral catheter enters the body through a vein close to the surface of the skin, while central venous catheter enters the body through a major vein present deep in the surface of the skin. Insertion of both types of catheters requires a trained medical professional. Complications of peripheral venous catheters are thrombosis, bleeding, inflammation, etc. while complications of central venous catheters are arrhythmia, bleeding, lung collapse, artery or vein damage, thrombosis, air embolism, which blocks blood vessels, and narrowing of veins. So, this summarizes the difference between peripheral and central venous catheter.
Reference:
1. “Peripheral Venous Catheter Placement.” Vascular Access and Catheterization – Procedures – McMaster Textbook of Internal Medicine South Asian Ed.
2. “What Is a Central Venous Catheter?” Cleveland Clinic.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Intravenous therapy 2007-SEP-13-Singapore” By Michaelberry at English Wikipedia (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Blausen 0181 Catheter Central Venous Access Device NonTunneled” By Blausen.com staff (2014). “Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014”. WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 2002-4436. – Own work (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia