Facilitate Peripheral Insertion

Thuytien Bui
Efficacy of AccuVein to Facilitate Peripheral Intravenous Insertion
Introduction
Undoubtedly, one of the most challenging procedures bedside nurses have to perform is peripheral intravenous (IV) catheter insertion. This procedure not only causes difficulty for nurses but it is also painful and uncomfortable for patients as well. During my clinical rotation, I was able to witness different methods being used for intravenous catheter placement. My clinical setting is a 39 bed medical-surgical unit in which IV insertions is a common procedure. The first and most common method was the standard IV insertion, which is achieved by visual inspection and palpation of the blood vessel. The second method was wrapping the patient’s arm with
Ovid MEDLINE and Google Scholar were used to obtain three original research-based articles (Aulagnier, Hoc, Mathieu, Dreyfus, Fischler, & Guen, 2014; Perry, Caviness, & Hsu, 2011; Rothbart, Peng, Muller-Lobeck, Spies, Wernecke. & Nachtigall, 2015). For Ovid MEDLINE, the keywords “infrared light” and “peripheral catheterization” were used to obtain two articles. For Google Scholar, the keywords “infrared light” and “venipuncture” were used to obtain one article. Only publications that were original research and relevant to the topic were included. Articles included had subjects that were hospitalized patients and the number of IV insertion attempts as outcome measurement. Lastly, only articles published between 2000 and 2017 were included to obtain the most updated research on the topic. Articles that were expert opinions, reviews, news, and reflections were
The use of AccuVein resulted in the same number of attempts or a higher number of attempts as compared to routine IV insertion. However, it was found in one study that the device may be helpful in patients with a history of difficult IV access (Perry et al., 2011). Patients with health conditions such as dehydration, chronic medical conditions affecting the skin, and obesity may benefit from the use of AccuVein. In addition, IV insertion by AccuVein may actually increase the time to a successful IV placement as it takes time to obtain the light and properly position it. With the evidence obtained, IV insertion guided by AccuVein would not be recommended unless the patient has a history of difficult IV access or that the peripheral veins are poorly visible to ambient light. In practice, standard IV insertion would be the preferred intervention over IV insertion guided by infrared