Arrow International, a subsidiary of Teleflex, has recalled a total of 3,241 Arrow-Trerotola over-the-wire 7FR percutaneous thrombolytic device (PTD) kits because of the risk of the orange inner lumen of the catheter’s tip component separating from the basket.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has identified this as a Class I recall, the most serious type, because of the potential for serious injury or death.
The recalled kits include a rotatable catheter with an outer sheath and an inner cable with a self-expanding basket. The Arrow-Trerotola PTD catheter is used with the Arrow rotator drive unit to remove clots in patients with arteriovenous fistulas and synthetic dialysis grafts.
“If the orange inner lumen separates from the basket, it may fracture and detach and block the blood vessel(s),” the FDA says in the recall notice posted on the FDA website.
“If the orange inner lumen detaches from the basket, health consequences depend upon where the fractured tip component embolizes. If the embolization is local to the treatment target site, retrieval may be attempted, requiring an additional intervention and consequent delay of therapy,” the agency notes.
“In some cases, the embolization could be central or possibly even to the heart or pulmonary arteries. This may lead to serious adverse events such as vessel damage, need for additional medical procedures, or possibly death,” the agency says.
To date, there have been seven complaints and no injuries or deaths reported for this device.
The recalled devices were distributed in the United States between Nov. 1, 2019, and July 31, 2021. Product codes and lot numbers pertaining to the devices are listed on the FDA website.
Teleflex has sent an urgent field safety notice to customers requesting that they check inventory for affected product and remove and quarantine all recalled product.
Customers are also asked to complete the enclosed acknowledgement form and fax it to 1-855-419-8507 (attention: customer service) or e-mail the form to recalls@teleflex.com.
Customers with recalled product service will be contacted by a company representative with instructions for returning any recalled products.
Customers who have questions about this recall should contact Teleflex customer service by phone at 1-866-396-2111, by fax at 1-855-419-8507, or by email at Recalls@teleflex.com.
Health care providers can report adverse reactions or quality problems they experience using these devices to the FDA’s MedWatch program.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.