Shaving skin before IV

April 1, 2009

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Intravenous news: Researchers have found that shaving an area of skin over the jugular vein before the insertion of a catheter is the best course to reduce the risk of infection.

Intravenous catheters are commonly used to administer ongoing fluid therapy, give medications and take blood samples. However, they do carry risks, in particular thrombosis and infection. Even healthy skin carries bacteria that could cause problems if introduced with the catheter, so it is important to disinfect the site beforehand. A study at Glasgow University looked at techniques used to prepare the skin for inserting catheters.

Equine Science Update reports that they took swabs from the skin overlying the jugular veins before and after clipping or shaving the hair and after disinfection. Well it is April 1st