Quiet control in the ICU - Teleflex Arrowg+ard Blue Plus catheter aims to cut line infections

Reviewed: ad hoc news B2B & Pro desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-20, 06:35. Details in the imprint.

With the Arrowg+ard Blue Plus catheter, Teleflex Inc. puts a piece of hardware into the clinician’s hand that can decide how turbulent an ICU shift feels. The central venous catheter is built for long, demanding infusions, but its real promise is calmer, cleaner lines.

What this catheter is built to do

The Arrowg+ard Blue Plus catheter is a central venous catheter with an antimicrobial surface designed for medium to long-term use in critically ill patients. It offers multiple lumens, so one slender tube can handle vasopressors, nutrition and blood draws in parallel.

Clinicians thread it into a major vein, often in the neck, guided by ultrasound and routine. Once in, the line becomes part of the patient’s daily landscape - taped skin, translucent tubing and the quiet drip of medication that never stops.

How Arrowg+ard tries to cut infections

The defining feature is the Arrowg+ard antimicrobial coating, which aims to reduce catheter-related bloodstream infections, one of the most feared ICU complications. The idea is simple but powerful: make it harder for bacteria to colonize the plastic in the first place.

Compared with plain polyurethane catheters, this surface treatment is meant to provide an extra barrier during the risky first days after insertion. For nursing teams, that can translate into fewer line changes and less frantic searching for a new access site on already bruised skin.

Everyday handling on the ward

Teleflex shapes the Arrowg+ard Blue Plus catheter with a balance of stiffness and flexibility, so it threads reliably yet feels forgiving once anchored. In practice, that can mean fewer kinks when a patient shifts restlessly or is turned by staff.

The hubs are color-coded and clearly labeled, which sounds trivial but matters at 3 a.m. when alarms beep and a nurse has seconds to grab the right lumen. A tidy, readable layout at the patient’s neck often makes the difference between smooth routine and stressful confusion.

Strengths and trade-offs for hospitals

Hospitals pay a premium for a coated catheter like Arrowg+ard Blue Plus compared with basic lines. In return, they bet on lower infection rates, shorter ICU stays and fewer costly complications - factors that rarely make headlines but show up clearly in budgets.

Some clinicians, however, still argue that meticulous aseptic technique and line care weigh more than any coating. For them, Arrowg+ard is a useful extra layer, not a free pass to cut corners on hand hygiene and dressing changes.

Where it fits in Teleflex’s portfolio

Arrowg+ard Blue Plus sits in Teleflex’s larger Arrow line, which covers vascular access from arterial lines to midlines and PICCs. The family is designed to give hospitals a consistent toolkit, with similar look and feel across different types of catheters.

For procurement teams, that consistency can simplify training and stocking. Staff move between units yet still find familiar packaging, similar clamp designs and known insertion kits, which lowers the cognitive load in an already intense environment.

Context for investors and users

Teleflex Inc. earns much of its revenue from specialized devices like Arrowg+ard Blue Plus that are deeply embedded in hospital routines but invisible to patients and the public. Shares of Teleflex Inc. (US8793691069) trade primarily on the New York Stock Exchange in US dollars.

This article was AI-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information without guarantee; prices and availability may change at short notice. No investment advice, no buy or sell recommendation. Stock-market transactions involve risks up to total loss.