Voluntary recall of selected Equistream®, Equistream® XK, and GlidePath® Long-Term Hemodialysis Catheters with tunneler barb tip that may be prone to breakage

A Dear Healthcare Professional Letter has been issued by Bard Singapore Pte Ltd to notify healthcare professionals on the voluntary recall of selected Equistream^®, Equistream^® XK, and Glidepath^® Long-Term Hemodialysis Catheters as they may be at risk of containing a tunneler with a plastic barb tip that is susceptible to breaking. This may result in health consequences such as improvisation of the procedure that increases the risk for minor tissue injury, and migration of the detached tunneler that leads to catheter occlusion or even pulmonary complications requiring surgery. Physicians trained in placement of these devices are likely to detect the tunneler breakage at time of placement and replace the damaged device with a new device. Healthcare professionals are advised to follow up on their patients currently treated with the affected devices according to their standard protocol and return any unused devices to Bard Singapore Pte Ltd. Please refer to the letter for details.

Only abstracts of the Dear Healthcare Professional Letters (DHCPL) are provided on this website. Details of these letters can be found in the MOH Alert System, which is accessible via the Health Professionals Portal (HPP), a one-stop portal for all healthcare professionals in Singapore. Dentists, medical doctors and pharmacists may access HPP at https://hpp.moh.gov.sg and follow the procedures below to access the MOH Alert system.

Step 1: Select your profession under ‘For Healthcare Professionals’.

Step 2: Click on ‘Useful links’.

Step 3: Click on ‘MOH Alert’ and log in via Singpass.

Step 4: Click on ‘Drug Alerts’ or ‘Med Device Alerts’ to view the DHCPLs.