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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from Intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in Intensive Care.
A lot of families come to us at Intensivecarehotline.com and they want to know why their loved one needs a central line in Intensive Care. So the indications for a central line in Intensive Care is generally speaking a high or a low blood pressure that’s life threatening in order to give inotropes, vasopressors or vasodilators. They can only be given through a central line and basically sustain a high or low blood pressure and make it less life threatening and more physiological.
Other indications are things like giving fluids, especially after bleeding so you can give fluids fast like blood transfusions or normal saline or albumin mainly to replace a massive fluid loss like for bleeding.
Other indications for a central line are TPN or intravenous nutrition. TPN stands for Total Parenteral Nutrition and sometimes IV antibiotics can only be given through a central line as well as cytotoxins can only be given through a central line.
Other indications are to measure CVP or central venous pressure to get an indication of the fluid status in a patient’s body.
So that’s my tip for today, those are the indications for a central line in Intensive Care for your loved one. Take care, and I’ll talk to you in a few days.