Cancer patients in Palliative Care: occurrences related to venipuncture and hypodermoclysis

OBJECTIVE: to identify the occurrences related to peripheral venipuncture and hypodermoclysis among patients hospitalized in a general hospital and in an exclusive hospital institution for the care of patients in palliative cancer care. METHOD: an observational, descriptive and multicenter study. The consecutive and non-probabilistic sample consisted of 160 cancer patients hospitalized in Palliative Care. The outcome variable corresponded to the occurrences and complications related to each type of puncture. A questionnaire containing the sociodemographic and clinical variables and a structured script for monitoring and daily evaluation of the puncture were used. Descriptive statistics were employed for data analysis. RESULTS: the occurrences related to venipuncture at a general hospital were blood soiling at catheter insertion (17.4%) and expired use period (15.8%), while at a specific service for the care of patients under palliative care they were expired use period (32%) followed by infiltration (18.9%). As for hypodermoclysis, there were two subcutaneous punctures with phlogistic signs (1.0%) at the general hospital and a hematoma at the catheter insertion site (0.5%). At the specific service for the care of patients under palliative care there were three subcutaneous punctures with phlogistic signs (5.7%). CONCLUSION: the number of occurrences related to peripheral venipuncture was higher than those related to hypodermoclysis.