Striving for vessel health preservation through standardized assessment: a Letter to the Editor

• Published in: Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem 2023-01, Vol.76 (3), p.1-2
• Main Authors: Santos-Costa, Paulo Jorge dos, Vieira, Margarida Maria da Silva, Graveto, João Manuel Garcia Nascimento, Lopes, Mayara, Torre-Montero, Julio César de la, Peterlini, Maria Angélica Sorgini, Pedreira, Mavilde da Luz Gonçalves
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Internet; Letter to the Editor; Medical personnel; Ultrasonic imaging
• ISSN: 0034-7167; 1984-0446
• DOI: 10.1590/0034-7167.2023760301c

[...]one in every four patients is subjected to consecutive puncture attempts by clinicians, leading to vessel health harm and depletion over time, with significant impact on patients (e.g., pain, distrust, delays in treatment), healthcare professionals (e.g., anxiety, increased care volume and complexity) and health organizations (e.g., longer admission periods, increased care costs)(1-2). [...]implementing formal assessment of venous assessment with standardized instruments will likely increase the identification of patients at higher risk of difficult intravenous access (DIVA) and the adoption of differentiated techniques (e.g., ultrasound-guided PIVC), leading to better patient outcomes and care experience(1,3). After careful analysis of Lopes and colleagues' work, we conclude that the proposed VIA-R scale is yet to be implemented and tested in Brazilian healthcare settings, contrary to what has been done in previous studies(4-5). Besides the satisfactory findings reported by the authors on the VIA-R's content validity, we believe that the authors should focus on the scale's reliability (e.g., predictive, concurrent, convergent, discriminant) before considering it a "validated instrument" (p.7) that can be used by certified healthcare professionals in Brazil. Comparison of ultrasound guidance with palpation and direct visualisation for peripheral vein cannulation in adult patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.