Small size central vascular catheters display optimal rheologic performances in terms of pressures and flows particularly when the renal replacement therapy (RRT) device is equipped with pumps proportional to central vascular catheters sizes, and even when relatively high blood flows are set. This is achieved at the risk of a higher hemolysis rate. When 4F and 5F catheters are used, maximal blood flows within safe circuit pressures can be set at the values of 13 and 29 mL/min, respectively, when a small pump is used. Differently, when using adult roller pumps, only maximal flows of 10 and 20 mL/min are reached. A pressure-flow setup aimed to collect pressure and flow values under different test conditions. A second experiment focused on hemolysis estimation induced by the extracorporeal system. Hemolysis exclusively induced by the 4F catheter was also evaluated.

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