ReviewJournal of family medicine and primary care2019
Heparin flush vs. normal saline flush to maintain the patency of central venous catheter among adult patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Review in Journal of family medicine and primary care, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Heparin versus normal saline for the care of peripheral intravenous catheters in pediatrics: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC pediatrics · 2024Pooled it
- A prospective, randomized study assessing different modalities for flushing totally implanted vascular access device in children with malignancy.Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA · 2022Trial
- Heparin-Coated Tunneled Hemodialysis Catheters Improve Failure-Free Survival in ESRD.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- Specialized nursing improves clinical outcomes in pediatric AKI patients undergoing CRRT: a retrospective cohort study.American journal of translational research · 2026Article
- Normal Saline Push-Pause Advantage for Implanted Port Patency: A Comparative Study.Clinical journal of oncology nursing · 2025Article
- Implementation of a vascular access team and an intravenous therapy programme: A first-year activity analysis.The journal of vascular access · 2025Article
- Autoimmune Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Evidence on port-locking with heparin versus saline in patients with cancer not receiving chemotherapy: A randomized clinical trial.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2022Article
- Article
- Transitioning from heparin to saline locks for central venous access devices in oncology: An evidence-based practice approach.Canadian oncology nursing journal = Revue canadienne de nursing oncologique · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAround the globe, protocols for flushing the catheter to maintain the patency of central venous catheter (CVC) vary by institution to institution or by practitioner to practitioner. Therefore, this review was carried out with the aim of evaluating the efficacy of heparin flush vs. normal saline flush to maintain the patency of CVC among adult patients.
methodsWe followed the guidelines of Cochrane handbook for interventions and searched in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane library, Clinical trials database, and reference list of related articles, which were published from Jan. 2012 to 31 Dec. 2018 in English language. We included only randomized controlled trials, and nine studies were included in this review. The pooled standard mean difference and relative risk were calculated by using Rev Man Review Manager 5.
resultsWe identified nine eligible studies with a total number of 3,113 participants. Consolidated results from eight studies conveyed little favorable effect to maintain patency of CVC with heparin when compared with normal saline as evident by risk ratio 0.83, 95% CI 0.50 - 1.40;
conclusionsHeparin has little favorable effects to maintain patency of catheter than normal saline but not in secondary outcomes. As the quality of evidence was very low, therefore, results should be comprehend with care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.