Published 8 July 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a630
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a630

Editorials

Improving the safety of peripheral intravenous catheters

Specialised teams and technology could bring greater benefit than routine replacement

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Current guidelines from the United Kingdom¹ and Australia² recommend routine replacement of peripheral intravenous catheters every 48-72 hours to prevent painful infusion phlebitis and rare but life threatening peripheral catheter related bacteraemia. In the United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines recommend replacement every 72-96 hours.³ However, numerous large prospective cohort studies^{4 5 6 7 8} provide convincing evidence that the risk of bacteraemia associated with the small Teflon or polyetherurethane catheters now widely used in hospitals is only about 0.1-0.3 per 100 catheters.^{9 10} Because many hospitals do not have a team of nurses responsible for the insertion and care of peripheral intravenous catheters, and the average duration of catheterisation rarely exceeds three to four days, many hospitals no longer routinely replace catheters at defined intervals.

In the linked study (doi: 10.1136/bmj.a630), Webster and colleagues report a large randomised controlled trial of different methods of managing peripheral intravenous catheters,¹¹ following an . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

It’s who looks after the catheters that counts

Steven J Kennish
BMJ 2008 337: a1001. [Extract] [Full Text]

Routine care of peripheral intravenous catheters versus clinically indicated replacement: randomised controlled trial

Joan Webster, Samantha Clarke, Dana Paterson, Anne Hutton, Stacey van Dyk, Catherine Gale, and Tracey Hopkins
BMJ 2008 337: a339. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Improving the safety of peripheral intravenous catheters

Dennis G Maki
BMJ 2008 337: a630. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Kennish, S. J (2008). It's who looks after the catheters that counts. BMJ 337: a1001-a1001 [Full text]  
• Maki, D. G (2008). Improving the safety of peripheral intravenous catheters. BMJ 337: a630-a630 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Peripheral intravenous catheter complications - its not who puts them in, its down to who looks after them.

Steven J Kennish
bmj.com, 19 Jul 2008 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more here>> and here>>