What am I looking at?
Visual recognition
Peripheral upper-extremity catheter with an external arm hub and a tip that terminates in the upper arm or axillary region rather than at the central cavoatrial junction.
14-02
Midline catheter
Extended peripheral catheter
Three-panel learning framework
Recognition, context, and distinction
What does it do, and where will I see it?
Use & procedural context
Peripheral catheter whose tip ends in the axillary or subclavian vein, short of the central veins, for intermediate-duration therapy without a true central line. Typical procedural contexts include one-to-four weeks of compatible IV antibiotics or fluids not requiring a central tip.
What most clearly distinguishes it from similar devices?
Key distinctions
A midline remains a peripheral access device because its tip does not terminate centrally; this is the key distinction from a PICC despite a similar upper-extremity insertion site.