Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Placement in Children

The purpose of peripheral intravenous catheter (PIV) insertion is to infuse medications, perform intravenous (IV) fluid therapy or inject radioactive tracers for special examination procedures. Placing a PIV is an invasive procedure and requires the use of an aseptic, no-touch technique.

While common IV venipuncture sites are the arms and hands in adults, children are usually injected in the feet and hands.

Intravenous (IV) catheters is a common procedure in the pediatric department and it’s usually a source of pain and, henceforth, anxiety for children, particularly when peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVs) are placed using traditional vein finding ways.

These techniques may be harmful to children because they have smaller veins, increased subcutaneous fat and their skin is more elastic than that of adults. Therefore, nurses or any healthcare practitioners always struggle in placing catheters in children.

In fact, multiple trials at PIV placement can lead to delays in treatment, increased use of human resources and the distress of the patient, the parent and, of course, the medical staff.

Peripheral IVs are one of the leading causes of pain in hospitalized children, and venipuncture by nurses is commonly seen as one of the most painful invasive procedures performed on children.

In such circumstances, doctors figured out that the best way to facilitate this whole stressful procedure is the use of a vein visualizer. In fact, Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital tested vein detectors to perform IV cannulations in a pediatric setting and reported a 31% increase in first IV attempt success rate.

Vein detectors, such as the accurate and clear vein illuminator SIFVEIN-5.2 by SIFSOF, have proved, therefore, their efficiency during this complicated IV process.

The SIFVEIN-5.2 is a portable hands-free, non-invasive device that projects near-infrared light on the patient’s skin, mapping out the desired veins in the area, which are not otherwise visible with the naked eye.

Most importantly, the SIFVEIN-5.2 has a mode specifically designed for kids (i.e. Child mode). This mode allows the area of the projection to be reduced in size, making the processing of vein images more meticulous. This leads to the reduction of the bi-directional pain caused by children’s IV injection problems.

Disclaimer: Although the information we provide is used by different doctors and medical staff to perform their procedures and clinical applications, the information contained in this article is for consideration only. SIFVEINFINDER is not responsible neither for the misuse of the device nor for the wrong or random generalizability of the device in all clinical applications or procedures mentioned in our articles. Users must have the proper training and skills to perform the procedure with each vein finder device.

The products mentioned in this article are only for sale to medical staff (doctors, nurses, certified practitioners, etc.) or to private users assisted by or under the supervision of a medical professional.