A biomedical device to improve pediatric vascular access success.
OBJECTIVE
to evaluate the effectiveness of a vein-viewing device on the success of venipunctures performed by staff nurses on a pediatric surgical unit.


METHODS
this prospective, non-randomized study examined pediatric inpatients from the age of newborn to 17 years requiring vascular access at a tertiary care center in northeast Florida. The number of attempts, age of the patient, and time required to establish successful vascular access using a vein-viewing device were self-reported by nursing staff (experimental group, n = 91, mean age 9 years, range 3 days to 17 years) as well as staff, patient, and parental comments about the device. These data were compared to baseline data (control group, n = 150, mean age 5.7 years, range 11 days to 17 years) previously collected on the same unit without using the device. The outcome variables were first-attempt success rate, the number of attempts per patient, and the time to procedure completion.


RESULTS
when comparing the two groups, the first-attempt success rate increased from 49.3% to 80.2%, the mean number of attempts per patient decreased from 1.97 to 1.29, and the percentage of procedures completed in 15 minutes or less increased from 52.8% to 86.7%. Results were statistically significant for all outcome variables between the two groups and also when re-analyzed in subgroups controlling for age.


CONCLUSIONS
use of a vein-viewing device significantly improved first-attempt venipuncture success rate, decreased the number of attempts per patient, and decreased procedure time for the study population. The device was well received by patients, families, and staff.
Wolfson Children's Hospital, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
Holly A
HA
Hess
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002406:Catheterization, Peripheral / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000451:nursing*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D017046:Cost Savings; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D010371:Pediatric Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000295:instrumentation; D018962:Phlebotomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000451:nursing*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors