Peripheral venous catheter-related phlebitis: A meta-analysis of topical treatment.
Judith Garcia-Expósito, Julio Sánchez-Meca, José Alberto Almenta-Saavedra and 3 others
PMID 36335576WHAT IT FOUND
Topical treatments for peripheral venous catheter phlebitis improved symptom scores in most treatment groups, but no active treatment was clearly better than the others once untreated controls were excluded.
Key findings
01Most topical treatment groups improved phlebitis scores from before to after treatment, except aloe vera.
02After untreated controls were removed, the seven active treatment types did not differ significantly.
03Sesame oil produced the largest pain reduction among the pain treatments, followed by alcohol and massage.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Most included studies had no untreated control group, so the analysis did not compare treatment change with untreated change. The meta-analysis mainly compared each treatment group's score before and after treatment, not against a control group. Only 12 studies met inclusion criteria, and the review could not test moderators or perform sensitivity analyses. Only one study adequately concealed randomization, and blinding was high risk or unclear in many studies. Several studies did not report follow-up, dropouts, or complete outcome data. Heterogeneity was high for several key results. All included studies were from India, Iran and Indonesia, and some products may not be widely available elsewhere. There is no consensus on diagnosing or grading phlebitis, and the review used only the VIP Score.
Declared interests
The authors declare no known competing financial interests or personal relationships.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that one topical treatment is proven better than another. Only two studies included untreated controls, and when those controls were removed the seven active treatment types did not differ significantly.