Peripheral venous
catheters (
PVC) are the most frequently used invasive devices in hospitals. Up to 70% of patients require a peripheral venous line during their
hospital stay, and conservative estimates suggest that
PVC days account for 15-20% of total patient days in acute care hospitals. Most published studies focus on
thrombophlebitis and address the issue of scheduled
catheter change, but there is still no consensus on the optimal time point for
PVC change, or whether
catheter replacement is required at all. Although
PVC-associated
catheter-related
bloodstream infections (
PVC-BSI) are far more serious than
thrombophlebitis, few studies address this issue, and a large multicentre trial is lacking. Some studies on
thrombophlebitis mention that no, or only a few,
PVC-BSIs were identified, but such results must be interpreted with caution. Current data available on
PVC-BSI suggest incidence density rates of 0.2-0.7 episodes per 1000 device days, which appear low when compared with other
catheters. However, some studies report absolute
PVC-BSI numbers in the range of central line-associated
infections. It remains unclear whether
PVC-BSI should be considered a serious healthcare problem or simply a very rare event. More research is needed both to capture the dimension of the problem and to provide efficient control measures.