Duration and failure of short intravenous catheters in a paediatric hospital: a 5-year retrospective analysis

Introduction:
The purpose of this study was to analyse how many patients had a catheter inserted, their length of hospitalisation, length of catheter maintenance, and reasons for removal of vascular access, taking into account complications such as accidental removal of the catheter, extravasations, occlusions, phlebitis, and vascular access infection.

Material and methods:
The medical records of 58,639 patients of an urban paediatric hospital were retrospectively analysed. Data synthesis was performed on the basis of 6-month reports of nurse observations of peripheral intravenous access from 2019 to 2023.

Results:
During the analysed period, 77,214 short intravenous catheters were inserted in 58,639 patients. On average, each patient required more than one catheter during their stay, of which 68.76% of the catheters were removed due to termination of intravenous therapy. Complications leading to premature catheter removal occurred in 32.24% of patients. Catheter occlusion occurred in 15.49% of patients. Suspected local infection with purulent leakage was observed in < 1% of cases. Suspected phlebitis or thrombosis occurred in 1.81%.

Conclusions:
To improve the quality of care and prevent the occurrence of phlebitis and infiltration, healthcare providers should analyse patient characteristics, prescribed IV medications, expected duration of IV treatment, and risk factors for these complications before selecting a intravenous catheter. In addition, healthcare providers should assess the risks and benefits of each type of vascular access and patient preferences. When observing vascular access, assessment tools should be used to detect complications in a timely manner.