Effect of Continuous Flushing on Patency Time of Peripheral Intravenous Catheters

Background and purpose: Occlusion is a decreasing factor on longevity of peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs). Continuous flushing (injection of specific volume of solution such as Normal Saline (N/S) before and after each drug infusion into PIVCs at determined interval time) is one of the effective methods in in vitro studies to maintain the PIVCs patency. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of continuous flushing on the duration of PIVCs patency. Materials and methods: In a randomized controlled trail, 72 patients hospitalized in medical/surgical department in Esfarayen Imam Khomeini Hospital, north east of Iran, were randomly assigned into either an intervention group or a control group. In intervention group, 5 ml of N/S solution was injected within 5 seconds before and after injection of any drug into the PIVCs. If another drug was administered at the same time, it was injected and flushing technique was performed again. The PIVCs patency was monitored every 12 hours using a checklist. Data were analyzed applying Chi-square, Fisher exact, and Mann-Whitney tests. Results: Mean age of the participants in intervention and control groups were 41.85 ± 13.14 and 45.52 ± 14.03, respectively, which were homogeneous based on Mann-Whitney test (P= 0.219). In current study, 33.33% and 11.09% of the catheters remained patent after 96 hours in intervention and control groups, respectively. According to Chi-square test, the two groups were significantly different in terms of type of catheter patency (P=0.04). Conclusion: Findings suggest continuous flushing as an appropriate method that could increase the longevity of the PIVCs.   (Clinical Trials Registry Number: IRCT20141222020394N4)