Extension tubes on peripheral vein catheters

A peripheral vein catheter (PVC) is placed in a peripheral vein (usually on the arm of a patient) to facilitate the administration of intravenous injections and infusions of fluids and blood products. Side effects of a PVC include local infection, inflammation of the vein and peripheral blood clots. An extension tube can be connected to the PVC. There is a theory that an extension tube lessens the mechanical stress on the catheter during handling and decreases the bacterial burden of the injection site, thus decreasing side effects.

Reading time approx. 4 minutes Published: Publication type:

SBU Enquiry Service

Consists of structured literature searches to highlight studies that can address questions received by the SBU Enquiry Service from Swedish healthcare or social service providers. We assess the risk of bias in systematic reviews and when needed also quality and transferability of results in health economic studies. Relevant references are compiled by an SBU staff member, in consultation with an external expert when needed.

Question

What systematic reviews have been published regarding the effects of using an extension tube on a peripheral vein catheter?

Method

A systematic literature search was performed using the following databases: Medline via Ovid and Scopus.

Two authors independently assessed the abstracts of all identified studies.

Identified literature

No relevant studies were identified.

Contact SBU
Published: Report no: ut202321 Registration no: SBU 2023/473
To top

Literature search

Medline via OvidSP 16 May 2023

Title: Use of extension tube on PVC
/ = Term from the MeSH controlled vocabulary; .sh = Term from the MeSH controlled vocabulary; exp = Term from MeSH including terms found below this term in the MeSH hierarchy; .ti,ab = Title or abstract; .tw = Title or abstract; .kf = Keywords; .kw = Keywords, exact; .bt = Book title. NLM Bookshelf.; .pt = Publication type; .ja = Journal abbreviation; .af = All fields; adjn = Adjacent. Proximity operator retrieving adjacent words, adj3 retrieves records with search terms within two terms from each other.; * or $ = Truncation; “ “ = Citation Marks; searches for an exact phrase
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. exp Catheterization, Peripheral/ 13 183
2. (catheter* and ve* and peripher*).ti,ab,kf,bt. 8079
3. (catheter* and intrave* and peripher*).ti,ab,kf,bt. 2590
4. (cannula* and ve* and peripher*).ti,ab,kf,bt. 2160
5. (cannula* and intrave* and peripher*).ti,ab,kf,bt. 789
6. 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 10673
7. 1 or 6 21398
Outcome:
8. exp Phlebitis/ 25839
9. phlebitis. ti,ab,kf,bt. 4609
10. exp Thrombophlebitis/ 21996
11. thrombophlebitis. ti,ab,kf,bt. 7676
12. 8 or 9 or 10 or 11 25839
13. exp Infections/ 3 058 144
14. "infect*". ti,ab,kf,bt. 2158001
15. adverse effect*.mp. 2122188
16. adverse event*.mp. 221549
17. 12 or 13 or 14 or 15 or 16 5879510
Study types: systematic reviews and meta-analysis / randomized controlled trials
18. ((Systematic Review/ or Meta-Analysis/ or Cochrane Database Syst Rev.ja. or ((systematic adj4 review) or "meta analys*" or metaanalys*).ti,bt,ab.) not (editorial/ or letter/ or case reports/)) 430339
Combined sets:
19. 7 and 17 9966
Final result
20. 18 and 19 283

Scopus via scopus.com 16 May 2023

Title: Use of extension tube on PVC
TITLE-ABS-KEY = Title, abstract or keywords (including indexed keywords and author keywords); ALL = All fields; W/n = Within. Proximity operator retrieving terms within n words from each other.; PRE/n = Precedes by. Proximity operator, the first term in the search must precede the second by n words.; LIMIT-TO (X) = Includes only results of specified type, e.g., publication type or time range.; DOCTYPE = Publication type; “re” = review; “le” = letter; “ed” = editorial; “ch” = book chapter; “cp” = conference proceedings; * = Truncation; “ “ = Citation Marks; searches for an exact phrase
Search terms Items found
Population:
1. TITLE-ABS-KEY (peripheral W/3 *ve*n* W/3 catheter*) 15 992
2. TITLE-ABS-KEY (peripheral W/3 *ve*n* W/3 cannula*) 4318
3. 1 or 2 17222
Outcome:
4. TITLE-ABS-KEY (phlebitis) 16791
5. TITLE-ABS-KEY (thrombophlebitis) 36235
6. TITLE-ABS-KEY (infect*) 6796601
7. TITLE-ABS-KEY (advers* W/2 effect*) 819460
8. TITLE-ABS-KEY (advers* W/2 event*) 734973
9. 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 7917258
Study types: systematic reviews and meta-analysis / randomized controlled trials
10. TITLE-ABS-KEY ( ( systematic W/2 review ) OR "meta analy*" OR metaanaly* ) AND (EXCLUDE (DOCTYPE, “le”) OR EXCLUDE (DOCTYPE, “ed”) OR EXCLUDE (DOCTYPE, “ch”) OR EXCLUDE (DOCTYPE, “cp”)) 627,520
Combined sets:
11. 3 AND 9 9820
Final result
12. 11 AND 10 711
Page published