Prospective Study Evaluating Whether Standard Peripheral Intravenous Catheters Can Be Used for Blood Collection Throughout Hospital Stay.

Only 83 patients were analysed, and the longest dwell-time group had only 6 attempts, so the estimate for catheters in place 72-87 hours is imprecise. The study was done at one large medical center and used a specific 1-inch catheter, tubing, dressing, and flush protocol, so results may not apply to every peripheral IV setup. Patients who could not consent, who were at high risk of anemia, or whose catheter dwell time was unknown were not included or were excluded, so this does not address those groups. The study did not compare blood draws from the same patients with venipuncture, so it does not directly show how often venipuncture would have succeeded instead. The authors did not determine why draws failed; possible catheter, vessel, dressing, flushing, and equipment factors were outside the study scope.

This study was sponsored by Velano Vascular, Inc, a subsidiary of Becton, Dickinson and Company. The authors declared no other conflicts.

Do not conclude that peripheral IV catheters can never be used for blood collection. This study tested catheters already in place for at least 12 hours, and the paper notes that draws at insertion in the emergency department are usually successful.