Half of all peripheral intravenous lines in an Australian tertiary emergency department are unused: pain with no gain?

Study Objective: Our study aims to determine the incidence of unused peripheral intravenous cannulas inserted in the emergency department (ED).

Methods: A retrospective cohort study using a structured electronic medical record review was performed in a 640-bed tertiary care hospital in Melbourne, Australia. During a 30-day period, all patients who had a peripheral intravenous cannula recorded as a procedure on their electronic medical record in the ED were included in this study.