Phlebitis in peripheral catheters (I). Incidence and risk factors

The type of pathology and the current therapeutic tendencies justify that endovenous therapy is the most frequently selected one. Although it has multiple advantages, it bears with it a series of infectious type complications (bacterial infections, phlebitis and thrombophlebitis). Even though bacterial infections in peripheral intravascular vessels have a low occurrence rate, which some authors list as between 1 and 2%, in central intravascular vessels, their occurrence is usually higher. Phlebitis is one of the complications most frequently associated with the use of peripheral intravascular catheters.