I have never had my PICC line get stuck as they remove it...and yes, they always have stitched mine in. But, the stitches always come apart because I usually have the PICC in for awhile. When the nurse comes to the house, she notes where the PICC measurement is, actually it is noted on the invasive radiologist's notes as to how far the PICC is put in, and then a final xray is done. I wathced the fluoroscope as they put mine in and knew when they had it in the right spot. There were numbers on my PICC to tell the nurse if my PICC stayed where it should be. When I was a nurse, I assisted the radiology nurse in the removal of PICC's, if they met resistance, then they put hot packs on the arm and chest as someone said on this site. If we still had problems, then we left it alone, cleaned the site, redressed it and had the radiologist take care of it. Never did we ever tug at it if there was significant resistance. Doing that could easily snap the PICC line. Fortunately, this didn't happen often. Every PICC that I had came out very easily with easy coaxing and I never felt it. After so many PICCs I now have a port, which I find is very easy to take care of, even when accessed. The needle used to access it looks kind of mid-evil but it actually doesn't hurt that much, less than an IV going in and once it is in, it is in. I think the biggest problem I had with my PICC's were that they always grew something despite excellent care, usually staph....but then I had them in for quite some time.
Hugs, Jenn <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
Hugs, Jenn <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
