Meeting the special nutritional needs of sick infants with a percutaneous central venous catheter quality assurance program.

Adequate nutrition is important in infancy because it can affect brain growth. A critical period for brain growth is the end of the fetal growth period and the first 2 years of life. Delivery of nutrition to infants in the neonatal intensive care unit is challenging because illness and prematurity increase nutritional need and create access difficulties. One technique, percutaneous central venous catheter (PCVC) placement, eliminates access difficulties. Nevertheless, safe delivery of parenteral nutrition through PCVCs is dependent on minimizing infectious and mechanical complications. With the implementation of a PCVC quality assurance program, problems can be identified early, and appropriate, timely interventions can be initiated.