How long should local warming for venodilation be used for peripheral intravenous cannulation? A prospective observational study.
BACKGROUND
Local warming is one of the most common venodilation techniques for achieving peripheral intravenous cannulation, but the time of application is unclear.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the effectiveness of local warming applied for 5, 10, and 15min.


DESIGN
A prospective, observational study.


SETTING
A university in Japan.


PARTICIPANTS
In total, 40 healthy female volunteers aged 20-45 years were recruited via e-mail.


METHODS
Participants received 15min of local warming with a warmed heat pack (40±2°C). The primary outcome was the cross-sectional area of the target vein at 5, 10, and 15min of warming, which was measured after the intervention by blinded review using ultrasound. Secondary outcomes included forearm target site temperature at 5, 10, and 15min of local warming, which was measured with a temperature sensor and handheld thermometer.


RESULTS
Compared to outcomes before local warming, vein cross-sectional area at 5, 10, and 15min of warming significantly (p <0.001) increased by 2.8, 2.9, and 2.3mm2. The target site temperature increased by 6.9°C, 6.4°C, and 6.0°C, respectively. However, no significant differences were found in cross-sectional area among the time points of 5, 10, and 15min of local warming. The target site temperature at 15min of local warming was significantly (p < 0.001) different than that at 5 and 10min. No adverse events occurred with local warming.


CONCLUSION
Compared with outcomes before local warming, vein size after warming for 5, 10, and 15min was significantly larger. No significant differences were found in vein size among the time points of 5, 10, and 15min of local warming. Our result demonstrated the effectiveness of shorter-duration (5min) local warming for inducing venodilation for peripheral intravenous cannulation.
['Yamagami|Yuki|Y|', 'Tsujimoto|Tomomi|T|', 'Inoue|Tomoko|T|']
D000328:Adult D002404:Catheterization D005260:Female D005334:Fever D006358:Hot Temperature D006801:Humans D007564:Japan D008875:Middle Aged D011446:Prospective Studies D055815:Young Adult
Peripheral Intravenous Heat Heat Temperature Catheterization Evidence based Evidence-based Heating Injections Medical practice Nursing practice Vasodilation