Predicting and preventing peripheral intravenous cannula insertion failure in the emergency department: Clinician 'gestalt' wins again.

OBJECTIVE: Failed attempts at peripheral i.v. cannula (PIVC) insertion in the ED are common. The psychological, physical and economic impact of these failures is significant. We sought to explore whether clinicians of differing experience levels can predict their own likelihood (clinician 'gestalt') of first-time cannula insertion success on any given patient.

METHODS: Data analyses from a prospective self-reported study assessing risk factors for first-time insertion success in a tertiary adult ED. We constructed and compared two simple theoretical clinical decision algorithms in an attempt to improve first-time PIVC insertion success rates.

RESULTS: This best algorithm identified a subgroup of 18% of the total PIVC population at higher risk of failure. This 18% comprised 57% of all PIVC failures, and implementation would result in a relative risk reduction of PIVC failure by 31%.

CONCLUSIONS: When applied to our sample population, an algorithm relying on clinician gestalt to identify patients at high risk of PIVC failure had the greatest potential impact. These patients would be referred to expert PIVC inserters prior to, rather than after, failed attempts.