[Making peripheral blood vessels adequate for access in emergency ward services]. / Adecuación de las vías venosas periféricas en urgencias.

Accessing peripheral blood vessels is one of the most frequently practiced invasive techniques carried out in emergency wards for diagnostic and/or therapeutic purposes. The authors of this article study the peripheral blood vessels and evaluate making their access adequate for treatment by means of a transversal descriptive study. The results of the authors' study show that 33% of the blood vessels catheterized do not comply with the criteria for their adequacy described in the methodology to consider them adequate for catheterization. This relatively high percentage, besides increasing the economic costs in terms of human and material resources, has a negative effect on the functioning of an emergency ward, leading to increased waiting times for other patients pending evaluation-treatment, with the risk that this implies. The elaboration and implementation of a guide to prescribe peripheral blood vessels catheterization may prove useful in order to reduce the number of inadequate blood vessels catheterized and to improve the quality of the care provide by emergency ward personnel.

Adecuación de las vías venosas periféricas en urgencias / Making peripheral blood vessels adequate for access in emergency ward services

El acceso venoso periférico supone una de las técnicas invasivas más frecuentemente practicadas en los Servicios de Urgencias, con fines diagnósticos y/o terapéuticos. Se estudian las vías venosas periféricas y se valora su adecuación mediante un estudio descriptivo transversal. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que un 33% de las vías canalizadas no cumple los criterios de adecuación descritos en la metodología para considerarlas adecuadas. Este porcentaje bastante elevado, además de aumentar el coste económico de los recursos humanos y materiales, repercute de forma negativa en el funcionamiento del Servicio, alargando el tiempo de espera de otros pacientes pendientes de valorar, con el riesgo que esto implica. La elaboración e implantación de una guía para prescribir la cateterización venosa periférica puede resultar útil para disminuir el número de vías inadecuadas y mejorar la calidad de la asistencia(AU)

Accessing peripheral blood vessels is one of the most frequently practiced invasive techniques carried out in emergency wards for diagnostic and/or therapeutic purposes. The authors of this article study the peripheral blood vessels and evaluate making their access adequate for treatment by means of a transversal descriptive study. The results of the authors’ study show that 33% of the blood vessels catheterized do not comply with the criteria for their adequacy described in the methodology to consider them adequate for catheterization. This relatively high percentage, besides increasing the economic costs in terms of human and material resources, has a negative effect on the functioning of an emergency ward, leading to increased waiting times for other patients pending evaluation-treatment, with the risk that this implies. The elaboration and implementation of a guide to prescribe peripheral blood vessels catheterization may prove useful in order to reduce the number of inadequate blood vessels catheterized and to improve the quality of the care provide by emergency ward personnel(AU)