Peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) are the most commonly used vascular access device in health care with around 65% of hospitalized patients receiving PIVC therapy during their stay. The insertion of a PIVC is the most commonly performed invasive procedure in hospitalized patients. However, failure rates of PIVCs are high at around 40% before the completion of treatment this impacts significantly on patients, staff and the healthcare system. Failure can be a consequence of occlusion,...

Received 3 February 2017 Accepted 7 February 2017 Published 13 April 2017 Citation Abu Choudhury M, Wailan AM,
Sidjabat HE, Zhang L, Marsh N, Rickard CM,
Davies MR, McMillan DJ. 2017. Draft genome
sequence of Roseomonas mucosa strain AU37,
isolated from a peripheral intravenous catheter.
Genome Announc 5:e00128-17. https://
doi.org/10.1128/genomeA.00128-17. Copyright © 2017 Abu Choudhury et al. This is
an open-access article distributed under the
terms of t...

On March 6 just under 100 dedicated clinicians joined us for the inaugural AVATAR State of the Art in Vascular Access Management seminar, held at Rydges Parramatta.  They were a mixed bunch with vascular access clinicians being the largest group (32%), followed by critical care (18%), inpatient services (11%), cancer services (10%) and infection prevention (9%), with the balance made up of several other speciality groups. This eclectic mix made for great conversations as participa...

Most patients need at least one peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) during their hospital stay for IV fluids and medications, blood products or nutrition. PIVC complications are common, but they can be prevented or minimised by routine assessment. This article discusses the key points of PIVC assessment. Is it needed? Does the patient need this PIVC? Many PIVCs are left in without orders for IV fluids or medications (Limm et al, 2013; New et al., 2014). Others are never used at ...

Central venous access devices (CVADs) provide access to the greater vascular system to administer therapy that is contraindicated to be given peripherally, for longer term treatment, and for venous monitoring and blood sampling. As clinicians, we come across these devices on a daily basis. We also see CVAD complications and failures, such as bloodstream infections, obstruction, thrombosis, catheter migrations, and others. Effective interventions can prevent many of these complications....

Note: This blog presents the personal opinion and experience of the author, and the practices described here are not an endorsement by the AVATAR Group.   Being the caregiver of a child with a central line is a full-time job. After 5 years, I have become more confident with my skills but the worry is still constant. And paralyzing fear is continually just below the surface. I attended a lecture where Jack LeDonne, MD said, "The average central line is in for 6 days.&q...

  The Alliance for Vascular Access Teaching and Research (AVATAR) Group welcomes Visiting Research Fellow, Maria Paula de Oliveira Pires, to Brisbane. Maria Paula is presently a PhD candidate of the Nursing Graduate Program at the Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP-Brazil). Her doctoral research project, "Effect of infusion devices in hemolysis biomarkers levels of warmed red blood cells", is being supervised by Prof Mavilde L.G. Pedreira, RN, PhD, wit...

By Amanda Ullman, Tricia Kleidon, Anna Dean and the Paediatric Vascular Assessment and Management Service, Lady Cilento Children's Hospital, Brisbane. This blog post was originally published in Don't Forget the Bubbles! http://dontforgetthebubbles.com/cvads-a-survival-guide/ We all love reliability. Central venous access devices (CVADs) are everywhere - across disciplines and departments, and we just want them to work reliably, without complication. But every day, some...