Venous assessment tool

March 4, 2008

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This article describes the potential benefit of a vascular access assessment tool to determine the most appropriate vascular access device for patient in receipt of chemotherapy. The authors explain a proposed research plan that will be used to develop a tool. The research questions include:

What proportion of patients undergoing chemotherapy experience vein deterioration during the course of the treatment (6 to 8 cycles)?
What is the patter of vein deterioration over the course of treatment?
What are the pre-existing patient characteristics and treatment factors that are related to venous deterioration?
Can patient characteristics predict who is more likely to be susceptible to vein deterioration?
Can these characteristics, when incorporated into a weighted venous assessment tool (TAT), support decision-making in terms of choice of central vascular access device and time points for assessment?
Are the assessments using the VAT a repeatable measure?

Reference: McGowan D. & Wood S. (2008) Developing a venous assessment tool in IV chemotherapy administration. British Journal of Nursing. 17(3), p.158-164.