Adverse events related to the use of peripheral intravenous catheters in children according to dressing regimens.

A randomized, controlled study was implemented to verify reasons to release and adverse events related to the use of peripheral intravenous catheters in children, according to the dressing regimens The sample was set at 150 peripheral intravenous catheters, randomly assigned to three groups: sterile gauze dressings, sterilized transparent film dressings, and non sterile hypoallergenic adhesive tape. The data was collected after consent had been obtained by the Ethics Committee, including children who had been submitted to catheterization with Teflon(R) over the needle catheters. Statistical tests were performed by applying the Pearson Chi-square test, significance level set at p < 0.05. The results showed that dressing regimens influenced the reasons for catheter removal and occurrence of adverse events, mainly due to infiltration (55.3%). The Sterile gauze showed the best performance (p=0.002) in comparison with the other studied groups, once 40.0% of the catheters were removed by release from treatment.