Tissue adhesives for peripheral intravenous catheter securement: A prospective randomized controlled pilot trial.

Background: In some patients securing the peripheral intravenous cannula (PIVC) with a standard adhesive dressing can be difficult because of sweat or other body fluids. The aim of our study was to evaluate the use of tissue adhesives alone as a means to secure PIVCs inserted in the emergency department.

Methods: We performed a prospective interventional pilot study from November 2019 to May 2020 in a medical emergency department of an urban tertiary hospital. Patients were randomized to two groups: tissue adhesives (TA) or adhesive dressing (AD) group. After randomization we followed them until day 4.

Results: There were no significant differences between TA and AD groups in the rate of unplanned removal of PIVCs in the first 72 h (57.1% vs. 45.8%, p = 0.29), the rate of unplanned removal of PIVCs in the ED (0% vs. 2.1%, p = 1.00), the rate of unplanned removal of PIVC in the first 24 h (42.8% vs. 35.4%, p = 0.52), as well as in the rate of phlebitis (7.1% vs. 14.6%, p = 0.34) and the rate of any blood-stream infection (0% vs. 0%, p = 1.00).

Conclusion: We did not observe any significant differences when PIVCs inserted in the emergency department were secured with tissue adhesives alone, compared to standard adhesive dressings. We observed a high rate of unplanned removal of PIVCs, necessitating further research to determine more reliable ways of securing PIVCs.