Validating the difficult intravenous access clinical prediction rule.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the difficult intravenous access (DIVA) score, a clinical prediction rule, which states that children with a score of 4 or more will have a 50% higher rate of a failed intravenous placement on the first attempt compared with the mean failure rate.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study in children 0 to 14 years, undergoing peripheral intravenous placement by doctors in the emergency department of a medium-sized general hospital. Before intravenous placement attempts, demographic data inclusive of age and DIVA score were recorded.