Complications of intravenous therapy: a randomized prospective study--Vialon vs. Teflon.

For the past two decades, the vast majority of vascular-access devices used in I.V. catheterization have been made of Teflon material. More recent developments in material science have produced the Vialon biomaterial currently used in the Insyte I.V. catheter. This prospective, randomized study compared the length of venous dwell time and rate of I.V.-related complications of Teflon peripheral I.V. catheters and Vialon peripheral I.V. catheters. The study population included only the most difficult peripheral I.V. access patients. Conditions of insertion, monitoring, and care were carefully controlled by the investigators. An alternate assignment scheme was used for randomization of eligible patients. Of 247 catheters evaluated over a six-week period in a 550-bed community tertiary care hospital, 191 were evaluable; of these, equivalent numbers were made of Vialon and Teflon. This investigation found that the incidence of phlebitis in the group receiving Vialon I.V. catheters was 36 percent lower than that of the group receiving Teflon I.V. catheters.