Complication rates of central venous catheters: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
The use of central venous catheters (CVC) can lead to different types of preventable complications resulting in serious patient harm. This meta-analysis estimated that approximately 3% of patients who have a CVC for three days experience one or more serious complication. Of all complications, placement failure and arterial puncture were the most common ones (20.4 and 16.2 events per 1,000 catheters, respectively).