Infrared Illumination for Difficult Peripheral Venous Catheterization in Adult Critically-ill Patients

Peripheral venous catheterization is a fundamental part of the management of critically-ill patients, especially for administration of intravenous emergency treatments. In general, it is preferred to central catheterization whenever possible, since it is less invasive, achievable immediately by the nurse, and responsible for fewer complications.

Venous access difficulties are frequent in critically-ill patients. Among tools proposed to improve the practice of peripheral catheterization, ultrasound and infrared illumination are the most studied, the latter being simpler. Infrared illumination has never been evaluated in intensive care. However, the delay or failure of peripheral catheterization is highly detrimental in the context of resuscitation as it may delay or impede appropriate management of vital emergencies. Our study will focus on the peripheral venous catheterization of the upper limbs, as these are the reference site for this technique The objective is to evaluate the interest of infrared illumination (AccuVein AV500®) for the primary success (first puncture) of peripheral venous catheterization of the upper limbs in patients with resuscitation at risk of catheterization venous difficult.

It is a comparative, superiority, prospective, multicenter, randomized, controlled, open-label, phase III trial. Subjects will be divided into two groups with a 1: 1 ratio. Nurses at participating centers will be trained for the use of the device prior to the start of the study; the use of the device is singularly easy and intuitive.