Objective:

To determine whether the use of medical liquid adhesive (MLA) in conjunction with standard dressing practices reduces dressing disruption and decreases central venous access device (CVAD) complications in children receiving in-home care.

Approach:

• Study Design: A two-arm, parallel-group, superiority randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing MLA plus standard care with standard care alone.
• Population: Children aged 0-18 years requiring a CVAD for 7 days or more, receiving intravenous therapy through the Hospital-At-Home program.
• Eligibility Criteria: Excludes children receiving end-of-life care, with hypersensitivity to MLA, significant skin compromise, or prior participation in the trial.

Key Findings:

• MLA reduced initial central venous catheter dressing failure from 50% to 28% in adults.
• MLA prolonged time to first dressing failure and reduced dressing changes without increasing medical adhesive-related skin injury (MARSI).

Interpretation:

Limitations:

• The study is limited to a specific population within the Hospital-At-Home program.
• Potential variability in home environments may affect outcomes.

Conclusion:

The STICKY Kids trial seeks to provide high-quality evidence on improving CVAD dressing durability in pediatric patients receiving home-based intravenous therapies.