Abstract: Objective To assess the feasibility of sealing central venous catheter using pure heparin in hemodialysis patients. Methods We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Issue 2, 2010), MEDLINE (1995 to August, 2010), CNKI (1995 to August, 2010) and WanFang databases (1995 to August, 2010) for this issue. We also manually searched relevant journals and conference proceedings. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which pure heparin was used to treat central venous catheter in hemodialysis patients were collected. Then we screened the retrieved studies according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, evaluated the quality of included studies, and performed meta analyses by using RevMan 4.2 software. Results A total of 98 articles were found, and 5 articles with 516 patients were finally included. All of these articles were regarded as grade C. We chose fixed-effect model to make meta analysis because no heterogeneity was found among the RCTs studying the rates of thrombosis, infection and bleeding; while random-effect model was used to make meta analysis because significant heterogeneity was found among the RCTs studying catheter retention time. The results of meta analysis confessed that there were significant increase in catheter retention time [WMD=14.31, 95%CI (8.67~19.96), P＜0.00001], and significant decrease in thrombosis rate [OR=0.29, 95%CI (0.17~0.51), P＜0.0001] and infection rate [OR=0.21, 95%CI (0.10~0.45), P＜0.0001] in observation group compared with control group. While the bleeding rate [OR=0.80, 95%CI (0.32~2.01), P=0.64] in observation group was similar to that in control group. Funnel-plot displayed a symmetrical figure, indicating no publication bias. Conclusion The evidence currently available showed that sealing central venous catheter in hemodialysis patients with pure heparin may decrease the thrombosis rate and infection rate, and increase the catheter retention time, without increasing bleeding risk. However, as the insufficient quality and quantity of the present data, more articles with high quality are needed to obtain more rigorous and objective clinical evidences.

Key words: Central venous catheter, Hemodialysis, Systemic review, Meta analysis