Factors affecting the unused short peripheral catheters: A neverending debate? A cross-sectional study in hospitalized patients.

Background: Concern about unused vascular access devices has increased, but data on idle short peripherally intravascular catheters in medical-surgical units is still scarce. We aimed to assess the prevalence of unused short peripheral catheters in hospitalized patients and identify risk factors and reasons that lead nurses to maintain them in situ.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was performed in September 2022. Clinical observation (24h) and medical records review were assessed to collect patient demographics and catheter-related information. Nurses were asked the main reason for continuing the use of the unused catheter. The primary outcome was the prevalence of unused short peripheral catheters, which were no longer used for intravenous fluids or medications in the previous 24 h. Multivariate logistic regression has been performed to evaluate risk factors for unused catheters. The STROBE checklist was used to report our study.

Results: Seven hundred and sixty-four patients were included; out of the 621 patients with at least one short peripheral catheter, one-third had at least one unused catheter. The risk of having an unused peripherally intravascular catheter was almost double when the catheter was positioned in the emergency department. Catheters of smaller calibers and in situ for fewer days were less likely to be unused. The main reasons for keeping a peripherally intravascular catheter unused in situ were clinical conditions.

Conclusion: Unused short peripheral catheters are still quite frequent. While specific clinical needs justified some unused short peripheral catheters, a proportion remained unexplained and potentially avoidable. Nurses and policymakers can use the findings to inform decision-making and protocols to manage peripherally inserted catheters to reduce unused short peripheral catheters and, consequently, complications and costs and improve patient safety and quality of care.