Phlebitis and infiltration: vascular trauma associated with the peripheral venous catheter.
Luciene Muniz Braga, Pedro Miguel Parreira, Anabela de Sousa Salgueiro Oliveira and 3 others
PMID 29791668WHAT IT FOUND
Peripheral venous catheters were linked to phlebitis and infiltration in adult inpatients.
Signs often appeared early. Longer stays and more catheters were linked to phlebitis. Piperacillin/tazobactam was linked to infiltration.
Key findings
01In 110 patients using one or more peripheral venous catheters, phlebitis occurred in 11.5% of catheters and infiltration in 15.8%.
02In the model, each additional day of hospital stay was linked to a 1.07 times higher probability of phlebitis, and each additional catheter to a 1.37 times higher probability.
03Piperacillin/tazobactam through the catheter was linked to a 3.65 times higher probability of infiltration, and each additional catheter to a 1.45 times higher probability.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
It was done in one hospital unit with a non-probability sample, so it may not apply to other settings. The sample was small and not random, so the risk factor results need confirmation. The study did not assess phlebitis after catheter removal. The infiltration model did not fit the data well.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat these associations as proven causes. The study did not prove cause, and the piperacillin/tazobactam result was imprecise.