Effectiveness of securing central venous catheters with topical tissue adhesive in patients undergoing cardiac surgery: a randomized controlled pilot study

BACKGROUND: Central venous catheters (CVCs) play an important role during cardiac surgery. Topical tissue adhesives form a thin film of coating that becomes bound to keratin in the epidermis. The advantage of this “super glue” lies in its antimicrobial activity. This study aimed to evaluate fixation of CVCs with topical tissue adhesive in patients (prone to bleed) undergoing cardiac surgery regarding its ability to reduce the incidence of pericatheter leakage. METHODS: This randomized controlled trial included 150 patients > 15 years of age who were (1) scheduled to undergo elective cardiac surgery, (2) required CVC insertion at the internal jugular vein, and (3) scheduled for transfer postoperatively to the cardiac intensive care unit. We randomly assigned patients to a topical tissue adhesive group (TA) or a standard control group (SC). The primary outcome was a change in dressing immediately postoperatively due to pericatheter blood oozing. Secondary outcomes were the number of dressings, total dressings per catheter day, and composite outcome of catheter failure within 3 days. Both intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses were performed. Seven patients violated the protocol (three TA patients and four SC patients). RESULTS: Regarding the primary outcome, the SC group exhibited a significantly increased incidence of dressing change immediately postoperatively due to pericatheter leakage compared with the TA group in both the intention-to-treat analysis (5.33% vs 18.67%, RR 0.25 [95% CI 0.08 to 0.79], P = 0.012) and the per-protocol analysis (5.56% vs 16.90%, RR 0.289 [95% CI 0.09 to 0.95], P = 0.031). No significant differences were noted in the number of dressings, total dressings per catheter day, or composite outcome of catheter failure within 3 days between the two groups. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to adjust baseline characteristics that were different in the per-protocol analysis. The results showed that the risk ratio of immediate postoperative dressing change in TA patients was 0.25 compared to the SC group ([95% CI 0.07 to 0.87], P = 0.029) in the per-protocol analysis. CONCLUSION: The use of a topical tissue adhesive can reduce the incidence of immediate postoperative pericatheter blood oozing. TRIAL REGISTRATION: TCTR20180608004, retrospectively registered on June 06, 2018.