29
American College of Surgeons • Division of Education
Changing the Dressing SKILL
Watch the Video
fWatch the DVD included in your kit or go
HERE to watch the video online.
Overview
Keeping your CVAD from getting infected
is very important. You want to make sure
no bacteria enter into your central line.
One of the ways this is done is to keep a
sterile dressing over the central line entry
site. CVADs are covered with a transparent
dressing. Some may have a transparent
dressing only, some a gauze covering, and
others may have an antimicrobial sponge
(Biopatch). At the end of this booklet, your
health care provider will check the type
of dressing you have and how often your
CVAD dressing needs to be changed.
The CVAD dressing should be changed every
7 days. It will need to be changed sooner if:
fIt becomes wet or moist
fThe transparent dressing is loose and no
longer totally covers the CVAD entry site
fThere is gauze under the dressing
(in which case you will need to
change the dressing every 48 hours)
Transparent dressing only
Transparent dressing with gauze
Transparent dressing with Biopatch
