More than a billion times a year, doctors and nurses insert tiny tubes into the veins of American hospital patients, so they can deliver lifesaving medicines, give fluids and nutrition, monitor key vital signs, and help patients with conditions ranging from cancer and pain to kidney failure and serious infections.

But these same devices carry risks as well as benefits - especially those designed to stay in the body for days or weeks, called PICCs, ports and central lines. They tunnel deep into the bloodstream, providing a gateway for microbes and a place for dangerous clots to form. Yet despite their widespread and rapidly growing use, no clear guide has existed for which kind of device to use, in which patient, for the best and safest result -- and which to avoid at all costs.

However, a team of experts led by Vineet Chopra, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, has developed the first comprehensive guide to using intravenous, or vascular access, devices of all kinds. Learn more about this guide by reading the full UMHS article.

Although not providing direct support for this study, MICHR has supported Dr. Chopra's PICC research with services that include an RDC consultation.