Evaluation of different methods of securing intravenous catheters: measurement of forces during simulated accidental pullout.

The purpose of the study was to compare the relative effectiveness of several combinations of tapes and taping methods with respect to the force required to pull out intravenous catheters. A simulated forearm model consisting of a section of firm PVC pipe was used for the first and second series of experiments. In the third experiment, one method of taping catheters was compared in the PVC model and in volunteers. Pullout forces were measured with a force transducer and recorded on paper. In the first experiment, catheters secured with Curity tape resisted pullout to a greater extent than those with Transpore tape and provided approximately twice the force advantage (P < 0.05). In the second experiment using Curity tape, minimum forces to dislodge the catheters were (means +/- SD) 53 +/- 13, 82 +/- 13, 113 +/- 29, 124 +/- 24, 176 +/- 29 and 141 +/- 46 N, for methods 1-6, respectively. In the third series, the minimum pullout forces were higher for Curity than with Transpore tape for both the human and simulated PVC forearm surfaces (63 +/- 11 and 55 +/- 12 N vs 52 +/- 7 and 44 +/- 12 N, P < 0.01), and the pullout forces were higher for the simulated vs. the human skin surface for both tape types (P < 0.01). Compared with Curity tape, Transpore tape was more likely to fail by tape fracture in both the simulated and human skin surfaces (P < 0.05). The data suggest that there are important differences in pullout forces and mechanisms of dislodgement depending on taping method and tape type.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)