Cancer patients in Palliative Care: occurrences related to venipuncture and hypodermoclysis.
Fabiana Bolela, Roberta de Lima, Ana Carolina de Souza and 4 others
PMID 35976356WHAT IT FOUND
In palliative cancer patients, subcutaneous infusion had fewer reported complications than venous puncture.
Nurses could consider hypodermoclysis for suitable fluids or analgesia when IV access is difficult.
Key findings
01Puncture counts were 342 venous and 52 subcutaneous at HERP, and 72 venous and 25 subcutaneous at INCA.
02Venipuncture occurrences included blood soiling 17.4%, expired catheter 15.8%, pulled catheter 14.1%, and infiltration 13.0% at HERP, and expired catheter 32.0%, infiltration 18.9%, and blood soiling 5.7% at INCA.
03Subcutaneous occurrences included phlogistic signs in two HERP punctures (1.0%) and a hematoma (0.5%), and phlogistic signs in three INCA punctures (5.7%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was observational and descriptive. It cannot show that hypodermoclysis caused fewer complications than venipuncture. The authors could not compare the two services statistically because the number of participants differed greatly. Only descriptive statistics were reported, with no adjusted comparison for patient characteristics, medications, catheter type, or duration of catheter use. Subcutaneous punctures were much less common than venous punctures. The groups may not have been comparable. The study was done in two Brazilian palliative care services. The findings may not apply to other settings or patient groups.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict of interest declaration is included in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that hypodermoclysis is safer than venipuncture for all palliative patients. The study was observational, venous punctures were more numerous than subcutaneous punctures, and the authors could not statistically compare the services or outcomes.