Incidence of phlebitis in peripheral venous accesses of inpatients

Abstract

Objective: verifying the incidence of phlebitis in peripheral venous accesses of patients admitted to a medical clinic infirmary of a university hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Methods: Prospective cohort study conducted in a medical clinic infirmary. The sample was consisted of 24 patients who used peripheral venous accesses. Data collection was guided by a questionnaire completed by the responsible researcher, who daily observed the venous accesses in patients from insertion to withdrawal. The data were analyzed using simple statistics. The odds ratio (OR) was used to measure the exposure effect of explanatory variables on the phlebitis outcome. The Chi-square test was applied to verify association between the variables. Jamovi software, version 1.2.27, was also used for analysis and statistical significance was considered when p < 0.05. Results:  Phlebitis was found in 41.6% of the peripheral venous accesses evaluated. There was a statistically significant association of phlebitis cases with the use of irritating drugs (p = 0.046) and peripheral venous access with more than one puncture attempt (p = 0.009). There was no association of phlebitis with gender, age, amount of peripheral venous access per patient, insertion site, length of stay, gauge size, administration of drug therapy, and infusion method. Conclusion: The incidence of phlebitis was higher than those recommended by Infusion Nurses Society. The entire nursing team is responsible for inserting and maintaining peripheral venous accesses, so they must ensure patient safety through the prevention and early assessment of signs of phlebitis.