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Leadership/Management

Addressing and mitigating the high costs of extravasation and infiltration to patients and healthcare organisations

21 November 2024
Product Focus
02 November 2024
Volume 33 · Issue 21

Abstract

Infiltration and extravasation injuries are a common complication of intravenous therapy and vascular access practice. However, there remains a lack of awareness and understanding surrounding these injuries. The first of two articles (Barton, 2024) reported on data from a study showing that the use of ivWatch infusion site surveillance technology can dramatically reduce the number of infiltration and extravasation injures with peripheral intravenous infusions of vesicant preparations, which can improve patient safety and have a positive financial impact. This second of two articles on infiltration and extravasation examines the financial and academic burdens.

The first article in this two-part series focused on the clinical awareness of infiltration and extravasation (Barton, 2024), particularly associated with non-systemic anti-cancer therapies (non-SACT) and introduced ivWatch technology by sharing data from a clinical trial. ivWatch was trialled in an outpatient infusion unit in a large acute hospital in England between August 2023 and January 2024. The results of the trial were compelling: 2254 infusion sites were monitored with ivWatch, detecting 122 red alerts and a further 59 yellow alerts, averting a total of 181 infiltration and extravasation injuries. This follow-up article demonstrates the benefits of using ivWatch by examining the economic and public burden of infiltration and extravasation injuries in more detail.

Complications arising for intravenous (IV) therapy can be serious and sometimes life changing (Nickel et al, 2024). Historically, complications associated with IV therapy and vascular access devices (VADs) used to administer IV infusions have predominantly focused on infection, thrombosis and drug reactions, including anaphylaxis. Less well-known complications such as infiltration and extravasation are now being more widely discussed in the literature, most recently by the National Infusion and Vascular Access Society (NIVAS).

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Extravasation
Non-systemic anti-cancer therapies
ivWatch continuous peripheral IV site monitoring technology