Difficult peripheral venous puncture in adults: Integrative review

Abstract

Objective: to identify factors that pose difficulties in peripheral venipuncture in adults. Method: in this integrative literature review, with no time cutoff, search of the PubMed, LILACS, CINAHL, SciELO, Web of Science, and Scopus databases, in January 2018, yielded 12 articles for inclusion. These were examined for year, country of publication, associated factors, and level of evidence. Results: publications were found from 2003 to 2017. The prevalence of difficult peripheral venipuncture ranged from 17% to 59.3%. The most frequent factors making for difficult puncture were: demographic (gender, age), clinical (comorbidities, nutritional status, visibility and palpability of the venous network), device-related (caliber and model), and professional skill. Conclusion: difficulty in puncture varies with complexity of care. Demographic-, clinical-, device-and professional skill-related factors should be considered.