Inpatient and outpatient use of the Hickman catheter for adults with osteomyelitis.

One hundred five Hickman catheters were inserted in 96 patients with a diagnosis of osteomyelitis. There were 78 men and 18 women with a mean age of 36.4 years. The catheters were present for a total of 6903 days with a mean of 66.4 days. Sixty-five percent of the catheters were used for outpatient as well as inpatient antibiotic therapy. The mean duration of outpatient antibiotic therapy was 30 days. Nine patients had more than one catheter inserted. The overall complication rate was 20% (21/105 catheters). The infectious complication rate was 11/105 (10.5%) or 0.16/100 catheter days. The noninfectious complication rate was 10/105 (9.5%) or 0.14/100 days. The catheter had to be removed prematurely before the completion of antibiotic therapy in only five of the 105 (4.8%) catheter insertions. The Hickman catheter is a safe and effective intravenous access device for long-term antibiotic therapy in patients with osteomyelitis. Inpatient management and intravenous antibiotic therapy are facilitated by a stable and long-term access to the venous circulation. The simplicity of the device also enables it to be used in the outpatient setting, reducing the time of hospitalization and the costs of treatment.