Complications of Peripheral Intravenous Catheters During 72 Hours After Insertion

Peripheral Intravenous catheterization is the most commonly used invasive treatment method in patients admitted to the hospitals, but it has some complications. The indwell time of catheter is one of the factors associated with the occurrence of complications, especially phlebitis. In spite of the instructions for replacing the catheters after 72 hours, sometimes the complications occur sooner. Thus early catheter replacement becomes necessary, and sometimes the catheter is replaced after 72 hours without any complication. This study aimed to determine the incidence of complications and related factors using Peripheral Intravenous (PI) catheters during 72 hours after insertion. This is an analytical cross-sectional study conducted on 154 patients of cardiac surgical wards selected using convenience sampling technique. The study instruments were phlebitis assessment and infiltration rate scale developed by the Infusion Nurses Society (INS). All Intravenous pathways were evaluated for data collection using these tools. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and statistical tests (Fisher’s exact-test and the Chi-squared test). About 48.7% of the study patients did not have any complications during 72 hours of catheter placement, and the reason for the replacement of catheters after 72 hours was the hospital’s instructions. Complications that lead to catheter replacement before 72 h were phlebitis (24.7%), obstruction (14.3%), drug leakage outside of the catheter (2.6%), and drug leakage into the patient’s tissue (2.6%). Complications were significantly higher in women (P=0.013), and on the second day of catheterization compared to other days (P=0.0001). Since nearly half of the patients with catheters in this study had no complications after 72 hours, it seems that further studies should be done to reassess replacing uncomplicated catheters after 72 hours. In addition, complications of catheter insertion are more common in women than in men. This finding calls for more attention and care in this area.