Study of iatrogenic thrombophlebitis

This is an analysis of 42 adult patients with 97 episodes of thrombophlebitis following 167 venepunctures. Almost all commonly used fluids had contributed to the development of thrombophlebitis. The observations showed significantly higher chances of development of thrombophlebitis with the quantity of fluids more than 2500 ml. (chi 2 = 15.50, P less than 0.001), autoclaved containers (chi 2 = 5.5, P less than 0.05) use of rubber tubing for infusion set (chi 2 = 4.7, P less than 0.05) and infusion rate more than 20 drops per minute (chi 2 = 15.25. P less than 0.001). Average time interval between beginning of IV infusion and development of thrombophlebitis was found to be 18 hours and average extent of thrombophlebitis was 7 cm. The commonest micro-organism isolated from needles was Pseudomonas aeruginosa.