Use and maintenance of a peripheral venous catheter for more than three days

: The use of vascular access in a frequent procedure in the field of hospital practice. Nonetheless, vascular access is not bereft of complications, phlebitis being the most common. Following the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations, in our internal medicine service, changing a peripheral venous catheter is systematically carried out every 48-72 hours. The objective of this present study is to evaluate the need to change the vein accessed systematically every 48-72 hours, following the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations, in those patients who have a catheter inserted in a peripheral vein blocked by the administration of medication as part of the treatment of their pathology; or to evaluate the need to establish a new operational protocol since, according to other studies, its utility has not been demonstrated in a convincing manner. As a final conclusion, and while awaiting the results obtained in this study the authors believe it is possible to amplify the established periods for changing peripheral venous catheters while guaranteeing the security and comfort of patients having peripheral venous catheters inserted.