Flushing and Locking of Venous Catheters: Available Evidence and Evidence Deficit

Table 1

Flushing and locking recommendations.

Flushing recommendations
Technique	Use a pulsatile flow when flushing
	Use a flush with 10 × 1 mL boluses with a time interval of 0.4 s between 2 boluses
	Use SAS and SBS order for the administration of mediation/fluids and blood sampling procedures
Volume	Use a 10 mL flush for all IV catheters (except for peripheral cannulas, use 5 mL)
	Use a 20 mL flush after infusion of viscous products like blood components, parenteral nutrition, and contrast media
Regimen	Flush with NS before and after administration of drugs of fluids (SAS)
	Flush with NS before and after blood sampling (SBS)
Locking recommendations
Technique	Use the positive pressure technique when disconnecting a syringe
	Close clamps and let them closed when not in use
Volume	1.0 mL for peripheral cannulas
	1.5 mL for midlines, PICCs, nontunnelled CVCs, and small bore tunnelled catheters (≤1 mm ID)
	2.5 mL for large bore tunnelled catheters (>1 mm ID) and TIVADs (reservoir volume up to 0.6 mL, Huber needle volume not included)
Regimen	q8h–q24h for short-term catheters
	Weekly in long-term catheters
	q6w–q8w in TIVADs