Design
Prospective observational study.
Setting
Medical ward of a central hospital in Portugal.
Subjects
Patients with peripheral intravenous catheters hospitalised in the medical ward.
Interventions
Nurses observed the peripheral intravenous (IV) catheterisation site daily. If there were complications, the catheter
was replaced, and both the development of phlebitis and the procedure were recorded.
Results
A total of 1,244 catheters were observed, and 317 were removed/inserted. Incidence of phlebitis was 11.09%. A
multivariate analysis of risk factors for phlebitis showed patients with KCI (OR: 2.112; CI: 1.124‑3.969), who were on
antibiotics (OR: 1.877; CI: 1.141‑3.088) and who had a catheter in an upper limb (OR: 0.31; CI: 0.111‑0.938) were
at higher risk for phlebitis.
Conclusion
Despite the patients’ profile (high mean age and high level of dependency), the risk factors are related to the use
of prescribed medication and the catheterised limb. Although these findings show the development of phlebitis is
not solely related to nurses’ practices, the authors believe these professionals can have an important impact on the
prevention of phlebitis. The results show the accurate selection of the catheterisation site, which relies entirely on
the nursing intervention, is an important factor for phlebitis. AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING Volume 30 Number 2 33