Effectiveness of Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) and Polypropylene (PP) Peripheral Intravenous Catheter Biomaterials on the Incidence of Phlebitis

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between the peripheral intravenous catheter biomaterial type and the incidence of phlebitis. This prospective cohort study aims to determine the effect of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) and polypropylene (PP) biomaterials on the incidence of phlebitis. The study was conducted in the internal medicine ward of 1 of the hospitals in Makassar City, Indonesia. Phlebitis was assessed using the Visual Infusion Phlebitis scale based on the Maddox scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23. A total of 30 samples were included in this study, each consisting of 15 samples in the ETFE and PP biomaterial groups. The analysis showed a significant difference in the duration of catheter use until the occurrence of phlebitis between the 2 groups ( P = .05). However, there were significant differences in the scale of phlebitis ( P = .01) and bacterial count ( P = .002), where PP biomaterial showed a higher rate of phlebitis occurrence and bacterial colonization than ETFE. These findings suggest that PP biomaterials are more prone to cause phlebitis than ETFE. Therefore, nurses are advised to be more selective in choosing the peripheral intravenous catheter biomaterial type to minimize the risk of phlebitis complications in patients.