I am looking for evidence that routine blood draws from a peripheral IV should be avoided due to trauma of the vein. Does anyone know if there is data on this?
I don't think you will find much if anything about vein trauma from drawing blood samples from a peripheral catheter. How would one go about doing a study on this? It seems like you would have to rely upon some means to isolate the blood draw as the cause of phlebitis or infiltration and that would be difficult. I do believe this is related to the technique used however. If there is excessive manipulation of the catheter hub such as pressure, connections, etc. it is theorectically possible for the catheter to damage the endothelial vein lining and this would begin the phlebitis problem. The issue in most studies is accuracy of the lab values being studied from that sample. Lynn
I don't think you will find much if anything about vein trauma from drawing blood samples from a peripheral catheter. How would one go about doing a study on this? It seems like you would have to rely upon some means to isolate the blood draw as the cause of phlebitis or infiltration and that would be difficult. I do believe this is related to the technique used however. If there is excessive manipulation of the catheter hub such as pressure, connections, etc. it is theorectically possible for the catheter to damage the endothelial vein lining and this would begin the phlebitis problem. The issue in most studies is accuracy of the lab values being studied from that sample. Lynn
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, NPD-BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861