Immediate and Late Complications of Temporary and Permanent Hemodialysis Catheters

This study aimed to identify the immediate and late complications of temporary and permanent catheters for hemodialysis in a nephrology service. This is an exploratory-descriptive study with quantitative approach, performed in a Nephrology center that is reference in the State and located in Recife/Pernambuco. The sutdy was conducted in the period from April to September 2015 using an instrument developed by the authors, consisting of socio-demographic and clinical data. The study included 40 patients who had a total of 57 complications. The most frequent immediate complication was hematoma (33.4%) and the most common late complication was decreased blood flow (46.1%). Results led to conclude that the nursing staff, in particular, should be alert to the occurrence of complications. For this, it is suggested that training and continuing education be developed as a way to improve the performance of the nursing staff before any sort of problem related to catheters for hemodialysis. Key words: Complications; Catheters; Renal dialysis; Nephrology.