Background: In critically ill (preterm) neonates, central venous catheters (CVCs) are increasingly used for administration of medication or parenteral nutrition. A serious complication, however, is the development of catheter-related thrombosis (CVC-thrombosis), which may resolve by itself or cause severe complications. Due to lack of evidence, management of neonatal CVC-thrombosis varies among neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). In the Netherlands an expert-based national management guideline has been developed which is implemented in all 10 NICUs in 2014. Methods: The NEOCLOT study is a multicentre prospective observational cohort study, including 150 preterm and term infants (0-6 months) admitted to one of the 10 NICUs, developing CVC-thrombosis. Patient characteristics, thrombosis characteristics, risk factors, treatment strategies and outcome measures will be collected in a web-based database. Management of CVC-thrombosis will be performed as recommended in the protocol. Violations of the protocol will be noted. Primary outcome measures are a composite efficacy outcome consisting of death due to CVC-thrombosis and recurrent thrombosis, and a safety outcome consisting of the incidence of major bleedings during therapy. Secondary outcomes include individual components of primary efficacy outcome, clinically relevant non-major and minor bleedings and the frequency of risk factors, protocol variations, residual thrombosis and post thrombotic syndrome. Discussion: The NEOCLOT study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of the new, national, neonatal CVC-thrombosis guideline. Furthermore, risk factors as well as long-term consequences of CVC-thrombosis will be analysed.

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doi.org/10.1186/s12887-018-1000-7, hdl.handle.net/1765/111290
B M C Pediatrics

Sol, J.J. (Jeanine J.), van de Loo, M. (Moniek), Boerma, M. (Marit), Bergman, K.A. (Klasien A.), Donker, A., van der Hoeven, M., … van Ommen, H. (2018). NEOnatal Central-venous Line Observational study on Thrombosis (NEOCLOT): Evaluation of a national guideline on management of neonatal catheter-related thrombosis. B M C Pediatrics, 18(1). doi:10.1186/s12887-018-1000-7