Central venous catheter use is not standardised in paediatric cardiology, yet it is associated with additional morbidity. We aimed to characterise variation in central venous catheter use and complications across paediatric acute care cardiology units.

This retrospective, multi-centre, and registry-based study examined all unique acute care cardiology encounters from February 2019 through September 2021 in the Paediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative registry. Descriptive and comparative statistics were assessed for differences based on central venous catheter use. Multivariate logistic regression identified factors associated with increased line duration and use frequency.

About 35,379 encounters from 24 institutions were assessed. About one in five encounters had at least one central venous catheter (n = 7,524, 21.3%). Neonates and post-operative cardiothoracic surgery patients were more likely to have central venous catheters than not (28.9% of neonates with, versus 11.4% without; 58.4% of post-operative patients with, versus 35.7% without; p < 0.001). Most patients after STAT 4 procedures retained central venous access for over half of the acute care cardiology stay. Institutions with overall “low” central venous catheter utilisation rates (<20%) also used central venous access most often on STAT 4 patients (p < 0.0001). Complication rates for venous thrombus and central line-associated bloodstream infection were low (1.9% and 0.2%).

There is variable utilisation of central venous catheters across participating acute care cardiology units, though overall they are common vascular access modalities. Acute care cardiology units use central venous catheters more often in neonates, those after cardiac surgery, and in their higher-risk patients (i.e. after STAT 4 procedures).