"Purpose: To compare the effect of replacement of peripheral venous catheters at 96-hour intervals on the incidence of phlebitis with that at 72-hour intervals through analysis of an incident-reporting database.
Methods: Convenience sampling of records from the incident-reporting database of a medical center in southern Taiwan was used to analyze the incidence of phlebitis among hospitalized patients with replacement of peripheral venous catheters at 72-hour intervals (from September 1, 2011, to August 31, 2014) or 96-hour intervals (from September 1, 2014, to August 31, 2017).
Result: The analysis revealed that replacing peripheral venous catheters every 96 hours rather than every 72 hours did not increase the incidence of phlebitis. The total incidence of phlebitis (odds ratio [OR]=0.70, p=.0290) and the incidence of bacterial phlebitis (OR=0.11, p=.0097) decreased significantly, and no significant differences in the incidence rates of chemical or mechanical phlebitis were identified.
Conclusion: According to the analysis results of a local database, under the humid tropical insular climate of Taiwan, replacement of peripheral venous catheters at 96-hour intervals did not significantly increase the risk of phlebitis in patients who exhibited no symptoms of phlebitis as assessed in three shifts. Medical institutions can adjust their clinical operation standards and implement knowledge translation accordingly.