Major ArticleProspective surveillance of phlebitis associated with peripheral intravenous catheters
Section snippets
Setting
This study was conducted in Shaare Zedek Medical Center, a 550-bed community-based, university-affiliated hospital located in Jerusalem. All major departments are represented in our facility with the exception of neurosurgery, and transplantations are not performed.
Point prevalence surveys
The first 6 point-prevalence studies were performed in 1996 (2 surveys), 1998 (1), 1999 (1), 2000 (1), and 2002 (1). Surveys 7 to 9 were conducted during the year 2003. The populations included in these surveys included all
Results
Nine prospective points prevalence surveys of phlebitis associated with peripheral IVC were performed in Shaare Zedek Medical Center between the years 1996 and 2003. The results of these studies are demonstrated in Fig 1. Overall, 40% ± 8% of hospitalized patients were treated with a peripheral IVC. The rate of catheter-associated phlebitis was 6.6% ± 3.3% (mean ± SD) with a range of 12.7% to 2.6%. From the time of the first survey in 1996 to the last, in 2003, the trend for decrease in the
Discussion
Peripheral IVC form an essential component of patient care in hospitals,11 and many patients are treated with an IVC at some point during their hospital stay. The predominant complication associated with these devices is infection.11, 12 Guidelines for management of IVC have been published to reduce rates of phlebitis and related complications, which may result in unnecessary suffering for the patient, prolongation of hospitalization, and need for broad-spectrum antibiotics with associated
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Cited by (0)
Study was conducted as part of T. Malach's MD thesis at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.