Pulmonary Embolism After Removal of Upper Extremity Venous Access

Upper extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a complication of peripherally or centrally inserted catheters that are commonly required for treatment of patients with hematological malignancies. Typically, anticoagulation is advised, and the catheter should only be removed if no longer needed or nonfunctional. In patients who cannot tolerate anticoagulation, catheter removal alone is the treatment choice. A common clinical question is whether there is an increased risk for pulmonary embolism (PE) early after catheter removal.

These investigators conducted a multicenter, retrospective cohort study of patients with hematologic malignancies and catheter-associated upper extremity DVT to analyze the risk for symptomatic PE with different cathete…