Abstract

DINIZ DOS REIS, Paula Elaine; CAPUCHO RODRIGUES, Cíntia; VASQUES, Christiane Inocêncio  and  CAMPOS DE CARVALHO, Emília. ADVERSE EFFECTS IDENTIFIED AT THE LOCATION OF PERIPHERAL INTRAVENOUS INFUSIÓN BY CHEMOTHERAPY DRUGS. Cienc. enferm. [online]. 2008, vol.14, n.2, pp. 55-64. ISSN 0717-9553.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0717-95532008000200008.

The intravenous system is one of the main chemotherapy administration routes and requires special care to prevent extravasations. This study aims to verify the incidence of local changes in the venous network of cáncer patients under chemotherapy. This observational and longitudinal study involves 15 patients over 18 years oíd, 11 of whom were women. Twenty venous punctures were observed, mostly in the superior limbs (n=19). Before chemotherapy, the access location was found intact (n=18), tortuous venous system (n=ll) of small caliber (n=ll). Most punctures were performed by nurses, using a peripheral intravenous device with a rigid needle (n=19), caliber 23 (n=12). During the puncture, there was verbalization of pain (n=2), burning (n=3) and stin-ging (n=l) along the venous pathway; erythema (n=l), edema (n=5) and extravasaron (n=3) were observed as local manifestations. Immediately after the removal of the infusión device, erythema (n=3) and hematoma (n=l) were observed. Later on, hematoma (n=5), erythema (n=2), phlebosclerosis (n=2) and verbalization of pain in the infusión site (n=l) occurred. Identifying the adverse effects related to the peripheral intravenous infusión of chemotherapy makes it possible to develop nursing care strategies that can reduce and prevent this damage in patients.

Keywords : Catheterization; peripheral; infusions; Intravenous; adverse effects; nursing; nursing care.