What is an Exchange length wire medical equipment? How long does it have to be?
An exchange-length wire is long enough to perform a catheter exchange without having to withdraw the wire. Most wires are 150 cm long and are paired with catheters that are either 65 or 100 cm long. If a catheter needs to be exchanged over a wire, the wire needs to be at least twice as long as the catheter to make the exchange without having to pull the wire back and risk losing access. This is easy to remember: If a 100-cm-long catheter is advanced all the way into a vessel, a 200-cm wire would be needed to exchange the catheter; 100 cm of the wire would be used before the tip of the wire comes out of the catheter, and another 100 cm of wire is needed so that the catheter can be pulled out without moving the wire.
