The Most Effective Ways to Overcome Difficult Intra Venous Cannulation in King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh

Introduction: An Intravenous cannula is a catheter punctured through the skin till it reaches the vein to provide access to administer fluids, drugs, and blood through the vein. Intravenous cannulation is challenging in many patients, where healthcare providers struggle to achieve a successful intravenous cannulation. Intravenous access is essential in everyday jobs in the hospital. Difficult IV cannulation could cause patient discomfort or sometimes death. Multiple attempts will result in patient discomfort and narrow your options for other sites. Methods: One hundred hospital staff members were included in the study. It includes anesthesia technicians, nurses, and Phlebotomists. The sample size was calculated according to the population and 95% confidence interval, and the margin of error is 5%. We investigated the most difficult patients to perform IV cannulation, the number of attempts to perform successful IV cannulation, and the techniques to overcome difficult IV cannulation. Results: Among 123 participants, most were nurses (82%) and female (82%), with 61% having more than five years of experience. Obese patients were identified as the most difficult to cannulate (72.7%), followed by chemotherapy patients (41%) and those with sickle cell anemia (5.8%). About 62.2% required two attempts to achieve successful IV cannulation. Phlebotomists most frequently performed cannulation multiple times daily (87%). More than half (55.9%) sought help from expert colleagues when facing difficult cases. Locating a suitable vein was the most challenging task (53.5%). Only 26% had used an assistive device, with training deficits (66.6%) being the primary barrier to use. Conclusion: Intravenous access is essential in every day job in the hospital. Difficult IV cannulation could cause patient discomfort or sometimes death. Multiple attempts will result in patient discomfort and will narrow your options for other sites.