Cardiac tamponade: a rare complication of central venous catheter – a clinical case report

• Main Authors: Ana Catarina Azevedo, Isabel Flor de Lima, Vânia Brito, Maria João Centeno, Antero Fernandes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia
• Series: Revista Brasileira de Anestesiologia
• Subjects: Cardiac tamponade; Central venous catheter; Iatrogenesis
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-70942018000100104&lng=en&tlng=en

Abstract The extensive use of central venous catheters (CVC) in a hospital environment leads to increased iatrogenic complications, as more catheters are used enclosed and its maintenance is prolonged. Several complications are known to be related to central venous catheter, of which the uncommon cardiac tamponade (CT), hardly recognized and associated with high mortality. We present a clinical case, with favorable outcome, of a patient who developed a CT 17 days after CVC placement, and try to reflect on the measures that can be taken to reduce its incidence, as well as the therapeutic approaches to practice in the presence of a suspected CT.