Background

Phlebitis is the most common complication induced by peripheral intravenous catheter.

Aim

To assess the best available evidence concerning the effectiveness of topical therapies in patients with peripheral venous canulation who developed phlebitis

Method

The bibliographic search for clinical trials and sistematic reviews, published between 1995 and 2015, was carried out in the following databases Pubmed, Cinahl, Cochrane plus CUIDEN and BVS (Biblioteca Virtual en Salud), in english and spanish. Inclusion criteria were: adult inpatient with peripheral venous cateterization with continous or intermitent infusion, including all types of infusion therapy who developed any degree of superficial phlebitis. The quality of selected studies was assessed independently by peer reviewers using the Clinical Appraisal Skills Programme in its spanish version.

Results

11 studies were identified, 8 clinical trials and 3 sistematic reviews. The efectiveness of topical phytotherapeutics: aloe vera, chamomilla recutita and notoginseny; heparinoid creams and heparin gels; anti-inflamatory as diclofenac, and vasodilators as nitroglycerin was analized, showing effectivity all of them.

Conclusions

Aloe vera, notoginseny, diclofenac and heparine gel suggest a weak level of evidence and moderate grade of recommendation. Heparin gel is the only product provided by the Spanish Medicine Agency to treat post-infusion phlebitis, notoginseny is not marketed in Spain and diclofenac is an anti-inflammatory used for various pathologies. Deserves special attention of topical therapy with aloe vera but further studies are needed.