Antibiotic intravenous (IV) therapy is of paramount importance in the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. During their life CF patients have to undergo frequent IV antibiotic treatments. Peripheral venous catheters (PVC) -or cannulas- are often used to reduce the number of venepunctures needed to complete a treatment cycle, as well as to provide patients the best possible level of autonomy. The clinical experience in managing IV therapy in CF patients at Meyer Hospital in Florence, suggested that the in situ duration of PVCs varies greatly.
Goal: To understand which factors influence the duration of PVCs used to administer IVantibiotic in people with CF.
Study design: Cohort prospective study, integrated with retrospective data retrieval. MATERIALS, PATIENTS AND METHODS: We observed all the PVCs inserted during an 8-month period to CF patients followed at the CF Centre of Tuscany (Florence, Italy).
Results: We studied 87 PVCs inserted to 36 patients in 56 IV antibiotic treatment cycles. The mean duration of PVCs was 8.3 days. The mean duration of PVCs used for 3 daily antibiotic administrations was longer than that of PVCs used for 2 daily antibiotic administrations (10.3 days vs. 6.5 days, p=0.001). Moreover, PVCs with a larger gauge (G22) had longer mean duration than smaller (G24) PVCs (9.6 days vs. 7.2 days, p=0.03). No statistically significant association was found between PVCs' duration and, respectively, the place where the treatment was administered (in hospital or at home), the arm used (dominant or non-dominant), the PVC's brand, patient's clinical condition and the concurrent use of either steroidal antinflammatory drugs or NSAIDs per os.