Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Failure in Hospitalized Patients: Bridging the Gap between Microbiological Data and Clinical Indicators and possible relevance to therapeutic targets

The peripheral intravenous catheter (PIC) is most commonly used invasive technology among inpatients, frequently associated with hospital procedures worldwide. However, PIC insertion presents multiple challenges, particularly the risk for catheter-related infections (CRI), which remain a preventable concern. Additionally, catheter failure imposes financial burdens on healthcare system. The goal is to establish a baseline for peripheral intravenous catheter failure (PICF) rates and incidences as part of a larger quality improvement. A total of 450 hospitalized patients diagnosed with PICF were included in the research, with 1263 catheters examined. PICs were placed in patients across hospital wards, ICUs, emergency departments and operating rooms. Among 700 cultured catheter tips, 302 were identified as PICF. The Hospital Length of Stay (HLOS) rate density-adjusted incidence for PICF revealed 35 out of 700 tips with positive isolates. No patients were diagnosed with CRI type three, where microbial development was concordant in tip and blood cultures. However, 12 out of 35 patients had CRI-compatible local signs and symptoms had positive cultures, while 11 exhibited symptoms within 48 hours after the removal of the catheter. The research shows that PICs caused unintended removal, which increases their significance for patient safety, illness and death. Numerous positive tip cultures were detected in the absence of any clinical indications. To emphasize that avoid CRI, it is crucial to eliminate needless PICs.