Heliyon (Sep 2024)

The endoscopy department can alert to complications associated with peripheral venous catheters in patients admitted to a tertiary teaching hospital

  • María Jesús Pérez-Granda,
  • Francisca Guzmán Blanco,
  • Sonia Aguado Díaz,
  • Rosario Jiménez Bautista,
  • Julia Orense Velilla,
  • Juana Rodríguez Calero,
  • María Luisa Valls,
  • Antonio Vicente Arellano,
  • Pilar García Santos,
  • Patricia Munoz,
  • María Guembe,
  • Francisco Jesús Carrascosa Tamayo,
  • Juliana Aguilar Vales,
  • Beatriz Martínez Lobo,
  • José Carlos Sánchez de la Torre,
  • María Antonia Soto González,
  • Rocío Barragán Lagar,
  • Helena Gil de Vicente,
  • María Amor Gámez,
  • Isabel Sigüenza Atienza,
  • Pilar Martín Nieto,
  • Ángeles Soto González

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 17
p. e35082

Abstract

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Background: The more widespread use of peripheral venous catheters (PVC) has led to more frequent complications, not only in PVC-associated bacteremia, but also in phlebitis. This requires the catheter to be removed and increases healthcare costs. Our aim was to assess the PVC-associated complications in an endoscopy department. Methods: We performed a cross‐sectional, descriptive study on patients admitted to our center and undergoing a procedure in the endoscopy department. We analyzed the appearance of the following PVC-associated complications: obstruction, phlebitis, redness, extravasation, pain, and infection on the day of the study. All catheter tips were sent to the microbiology laboratory for culture using the roll-plate semiquantitative technique. Clinical and microbiological data were collected. Results: We included a total of 46 patients with 50 PVCs. The median (IQR) age was 70.0 (55.0–81.5) years, and 58.7% were female. The median (IQR) hospital stay was 9.00 (6.00–14.25) days. Of the 50 PVCs, most were inserted in the emergency room (74.0%), and the median (IQR) indwelling time was 5.00 (3.00–7.00) days. The phlebitis rate was 78.0%, which occurred mainly in PVCs inserted in the emergency room (74.3%). The tip was colonized in 9 PVCs (18.0%). Conclusion: The endoscopy department can alert clinicians to PVC-associated complications. PVCs inserted in the emergency room were subject to a higher risk of phlebitis and/or colonization. Therefore, we recommend systematically replacing PVCs inserted in the emergency room within 48 h if preventive measures during insertion cannot be guaranteed.

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