There are actually hundreds of situations where you or someone you care about could be presented with the need for intravenous (IV) access.
Emergency Department: In emergency situations every second counts, and finding a vein in a critically injured or ill patient can be highly difficult and time-consuming when delivery of medication, fluids or nutrients is most critical.
Labor and Delivery: Having a baby is a momentous event, and that trip to the hospital can hold great joy and stress simultaneously. An IV is often immediately placed during the admitting process for hydration or to introduce medication. Pregnant women may also have pregnancy-induced hypertension, vaso-constricted veins and edema – all of which contribute to challenging venipuncture.
Laboratory: There are a multitude of reasons that you will find the need for lab work numerous times over the course of your life. Your state of health will also vary from procedure to procedure, which can greatly affect the ease of assessing your vasculature.
Oncology: The war against cancer is one of our greatest challenges, and every battle in that fight can diminish the viability of accessible vasculature. Frequent infusion therapies make a patient’s peripheral vasculature fragile and limited.
Operating Room: The need for an operation can be stressful enough, and many operations are delayed due to unsuccessful attempts at peripheral IV access.
ICU: The Intensive Care Unit is a delicate environment. There are many factors that can change a critical patient’s status in an instant. When peripheral access cannot be attained and a central line must be placed, the risk for infection goes up significantly. Central line-associated bloodstream infections cause up to 28,000 deaths a year in the U.S.
Pediatrics: Children pose a particular challenge for venipuncture due to small vessels and limited access points. Adding to this are the fears of the child and the great anxiety of their parents.
PICU/NICU: Pediatric and Neonatal ICU’s are arguably the most sensitive environments in a hospital. Unfortunately, neonates are most likely to be exposed to the greatest number of painful stimuli. On average, intensive care nursery patients daily undergo a mean of 14 painful procedures.
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