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Relative incidence of phlebitis associated with peripheral intravenous catheters in the lower versus upper extremities

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Abstract

Peripheral venous access in elderly, hospitalized patients is often challenging. The usual alternative is insertion of a central venous catheter, with associated risk for complications. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relative incidence of phlebitis secondary to lower as compared to upper extremity intravenous catheters (IVCs) and associated risk factors. A non-randomized, observational, cohort-controlled study was carried out. Consecutive patients receiving a lower extremity IVC were enrolled and compared with patients receiving an upper extremity IVC. Patients were followed from insertion until removal of the IVC. The major endpoint was phlebitis. The incidence of phlebitis secondary to upper extremity IVCs was 3/50 (6 %) compared to 5/53 (9.4 %) in lower extremity IVCs (χ2 Yates = 0.08, p = 0.776). Age, gender, obesity, diabetes mellitus, site (arm versus leg, left versus right), and size of needle were not found to be risk factors for phlebitis according to univariate analysis. None of the patients developed bloodstream infection. In elderly patients with poor venous access, lower extremity IVCs are a reasonable and low-risk alternative to central venous catheters.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Internal Medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, affiliated with the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

    A. Benaya, Y. Schwartz, R. Kory, A. M. Yinnon & E. Ben-Chetrit

  2. Infectious Disease Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, affiliated with the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

    A. M. Yinnon & E. Ben-Chetrit

  3. Division of Internal Medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, P.O. Box 3235, Jerusalem, 91031, Israel

    A. M. Yinnon

Authors
  1. A. Benaya
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  2. Y. Schwartz
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  3. R. Kory
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  4. A. M. Yinnon
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  5. E. Ben-Chetrit
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. M. Yinnon.

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Yuval Schwartz is an equal first contributor.

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Benaya, A., Schwartz, Y., Kory, R. et al. Relative incidence of phlebitis associated with peripheral intravenous catheters in the lower versus upper extremities. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 34, 913–916 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-014-2304-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-014-2304-7

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