Study is published into device pioneered at Clatterbridge

Posted 1st September 2023

A specialist nurse has had her work into an innovative device for cancer patients published in a global medical journal.

Carol McCormick is the joint author of a study published in The Journal of Vascular Access looking at the effectiveness of an under-the-skin subcutaneous anchored securement system (SASS) which was pioneered at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre (CCC).

The device was first used clinically at CCC more than 10 years ago – revolutionising how peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) lines are attached into a patient’s vein.

Carol, Clinical Interventions Lead Nurse at CCC, has championed the new system which has proved to be more secure, preventing fewer lines from becoming dislodged, improving patient experience and potentially reducing the risk of infections and the need for replacement PICCs.

Over the past decade more than 100 hospital trusts across England have started to use the SASS.

Now, lengthy, peer-reviewed study into the process has been published online, with Carol as a joint author of the paper, titled ‘A retrospective study of subcutaneous anchor securement systems in oncology patients’.

The work looked at the results of how catheters performed in 9,257 patients at Clatterbridge from 2007 to 2021, using both the traditional method and the SASS.

The conclusions of the study showed that the level of PICC lines being dislodged by the traditional method was12% but by using SASS this reduced to 0.4%. Another finding that the probability of reaching the end of need (EON) with one PICC line at two years was 68% for the standard method but 95% for the SSAS.

The paper concludes: “With over 9,200 patients and more than a million catheter days, the results of this retrospective study seem to demonstrate the SASS’s superiority in assisting the patient to reach the EON with a single PICC. Relying on convenient or traditional securement is not a clinically sound decision but rather a default action with potentially significant consequences for the patient.”

Carol said: “I am really pleased that this study, which has been years in the making, justifies CCC’s commitment to this new method of securing PICC lines. It has had real, tangible benefits for our patients and in saving time and expense at the Trust.

“Over the past decade, many other hospital Trusts have begun using the system and I’m sure with the publication of this work, others will now investigate it, too.

“It was very interesting being involved in the study process – I’d recommend any of my nursing colleagues who want to become involved in work like this to come forward. It is very rewarding, especially when results are finally published.”

Carol is co-author of the study with Michelle Hawes, President of the Association for Vascular Access Foundation, who said: “Based on the evidence, the best instrument for securing a catheter throughout a patient’s therapeutic need is the subcutaneous anchoring securement device.”

Laura Krick, Chief Commercial Officer of Interrad Medical, the US medical device company which invented the SASS device, praised Carol’s work in using it at CCC, saying: “This data really demonstrates you and your teams' amazing commitment to the betterment of care for your patients at Clatterbridge and how focused, continuous improvement leads to consequential results.”

You can read the study here.