Open AccessUnnecessary peripheral venous catheters in ambulatory emergency care
Author(s) -
Sendoa Ballesteros Peña,
Saloa Unanue-Arza,
M N Juaristi
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
anales del sistema sanitario de navarra
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.175
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 2340-3527
pISSN - 1137-6627
DOI - 10.23938/assn.0998
Subject(s) - ambulatory , medicine , catheter , emergency medicine , peripheral , ambulatory care , emergency department , central venous catheter , anesthesia , intensive care medicine , surgery , health care , nursing , economics , economic growth
The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency of unnecessary peripheral venous catheter (PVC) cannulation in adult patients attended in Ambulatory Emergency Care, and to analyse potential associated factors. An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary hospital for two consecutive months. The proportion of canulated and unused PVC was calculated and related to patient variables. A PVC was cannulated in 701 patients. In 103 cases (14.7%; 95%CI: 12.1-17.3) the catheter was not used, and the patients were discharged directly home. Age over 64 was associated with a higher proportion of unsuitability (19.3% vs. 10.8%; p=0.002). There seems to be a certain proportion of catheters cannulated unnecessarily in Ambulatory Emergency Care, which would justify the implementation of good practice programmes in the assessment and selection of vascular accesses.