The Experience of living with a Vascular Access Device (version 1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Experience of living with a Vascular Access Device (A qualitative, phenomenological study)
IRAS ID
168223
Contact name
Linda J Kelly
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of the West of Scotland
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 16 days
Research summary
Long-term central venous access is necessary to safely deliver medication or treatment that can be irritant to the intima (inner layer) of smaller veins.Such medications include chemotherapy drugs, certain antibiotics and total parenteral nutrition. The tips of the central venous access devices terminate in the larger veins of the body which maintains vein integrity (prevents damage.
There are three devices that can be used for long term access namely: peripherally inserted central catheter (PiCC), Tunnelled Central Venous Catheters (TCVCs) and Totally Implanted Vascular Access Device (TVADs). Each of these devices are suitable for long term treatment but at the present time there is a lack of evidence to support a clear and unambiguous choice of one device over another and the use of specific devices is ultimately associated with clinician preference or costs.
There is limited evidence to support the choice of device that takes the patient into account (Chernecky et al. 2002 and 2003) and information about the perceived advantages and disadvantages of the devices from a patient view point is sparse. As patients can have one of these devices in place for up to five years, this study aims to explore the experiences and attitudes of living with a device in place.
This study aims to gain a deeper more sophisticated understanding of the patient experiences and feelings about living with each of these devices.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 4
REC reference
15/WS/0108
Date of REC Opinion
1 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion