The Effect of Catheter Protector on Catheter Dwell Time and Complications

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of applying the IV House Ultradressing catheter protector on the frequency of peripheral venous catheter (PVC) replacements and complications in patients with peripheral venous catheterization in an oncology clinic.

Materials and Methods: The research was planned as a randomized controlled experimental study. The population of the study consisted of patients hospitalized in the oncology clinic. The sample of the study was calculated based on the data from the study by Büyükyılmaz et al. (2019), which found a significant difference in the average duration of catheter-related phlebitis in the intervention group (2.10 ± 1.55 days) compared to the control group (1.27 ± 0.45 days), with an effect size of d=0.72. As a result of the sample size calculation, 32 patients were predicted for each group. Considering that 10% of patients might drop out during the study, a total of 70 patients, with 35 in each group, were decided to be included. After the catheter is inserted, patients in the intervention group will have their catheter area protected with IV House Ultradressing, while no protective measures will be applied to the control group. Both groups will be evaluated in terms of catheter duration and PVC complications. It is planned to use t-tests and chi-square tests for data analysis.