Placing peripheral IV access catheters is a standard daily procedure in every vet clinic and performed by veterinarians and nurses/technicians. In some cases, an IV catheter (IVC) can stay/remain in place for up to 3 days, in other cases, the catheter site shows signs of inflammation after a few hours and should be replaced quickly.
What is the reason for this inflammation? Is it the catheter itself, the way of placing it, the medication? Let us have a closer look and let us experi. In this lecture we will discuss what we can do to increase the indwelling time of an IVC in our patients. If we can increase the indwelling time, we can reduce stress for our patients, stress for ourselves, and we can save money for the IVCs and reduce the amount of materials used in each case.
The most common reason to remove the IVC is the development of a phlebitis or a thrombophlebitis.
The phlebitis is an inflammation of the veins intima and has three causes - bacterial, mechanical, and chemical.
A bacterial phlebitis refers to the non-intended or accidental introduction of infectious material like bacteria or their toxins and by-products. In this case, pathogens can directly reach the systemic circulation and cause catheter-related blood stream infections.
Mechanical phlebitis is the phlebitis that involves the IVC directly. Depending on the catheter material and the relation between the catheter’s diameter and the diameter of the vein, a mechanical phlebitis is more or less likely. A mechanical phlebitis develops if the catheter touches the intima of the vein.
Chemical phlebitis is caused by an insufficient insertion site for the medication that needs to be administered.
Osmolarity of the medication and the pH value indicates to us whether a distal or proximal vein should be used - to avoid chemical phlebitis.
During the lecture, we will take a closer look into this topic and will focus on handling techniques to avoid complications and to have an enable IVC placement for longer periods.
A copy of power points for this lecture will be disseminated to all delegate e-mail addresses after the Congress.