[Impact of implementation of reminders to reduce adverse effects in patients with peripheral venous catheterizations]

The main purpose of this paper is to measure the clinical impact of the implementation of a reminder system that would warn of patients who are at risk of presenting an adverse event (AE) related to the peripheral venous catheter.

On the basis of the registers used for monitoring intravenous catheters, an automated consultation was realized that elaborated a list of the patients admitted, including: date of admission, date of the insertion of the venous access device, and type of device. It was implanted in January 2010 and updated three times a day with the computers of the unit. A quasi-experimental study has measured the cumulative incidence of phlebitis, extravasation and obstructions in the patients registered in 2009 and 2010. The association between qualitative variables was evaluated with the Chi-squared test, and relative risk (RR) and Number Needed to Treat (NNT) were estimated.

Nine thousand two hundred and sixty-three patients were registered in the studied units in the year 2009, and 9,220 patients in 2010. The results were the following: Patients with phlebitis 2010/2009: RR: 0.827 (p < 0.001). Patients with extravasations 2010/2009: RR: 0.804 (p < 0.001). Patients with obstructions 2010/2009: RR: 0.954 (p < 0.554).

With the help of a reminder list (which includes the patients with vascular access and the date), there has been a decrease in the number of phlebitis and extravasations but not in the number of obstructions.